Baby Boomer Statistics The youngest Boomers will reach full retirement age in 2031, and at that point, there will be around 75 million people living in the United States over the age of 65, drawing on Social Security Benefits.
A Boomer born in 1955 would reach full retirement age of 66 years and 2 months in 2023, with an average Social Security benefit of $1,668 per month as of spring 2022.
Nearly 29 million Boomers retired in 2020, three million more than in 2019. Seventy-five million Boomers are expected to retire by 2030, paving the way for what is now called "The Great Retirement," which may surpass The Great Resignation as the most significant hiring trend for 2022.
Much of this growth will be prompted by the aging of the Baby Boomers, who in 2030 will be aged 66 to 84—the “young old”—and will number 61 million people. In addition to the Baby Boomers, those born prior to 1946—the “oldest old”—will number 9million people in 2030.
The Bottom Line
While baby boomers are working longer, their inevitable retirement will have widespread effects on the American economy. Expect high impacts on consumer spending, as retirees not only produce less but also consume and spend less.
Amid uncertain economic conditions, baby boomers aren't feeling confident in their retirement plans. In fact, 70% of baby boomers expressed uncertainty over whether their retirement savings were healthy enough to carry them through retirement, according to a study from Retirement Living.
The main reason: many baby boomers are worried about their finances. Nearly two-thirds expressed concern about having enough savings to quit the daily work grind.
Compared to the 70-year life expectancy of baby boomers and the 85-year life expectancy of Gen X, Gen Z is predicted to have a life expectancy of over 100 years.
They weren't as quick to get married as their parents, were more likely to divorce if they did marry, and were less likely to have children. This has left many older Americans with a smaller safety net if they need care due to ill health. Roughly one-third of baby boomers are single.
The population shift in favor of older Americans could affect funding for programs such as Social Security and Medicare. There will be 78 million people 65 years or older by 2035, compared with 76.4 million under the age of 18, according to the Census Bureau. By 2030, all baby boomers will be older than age 65.
Among those looking ahead to retirement, many expect to step away from work at age 65, according to the 2023 Retirement Confidence Survey. Although 65 is the anticipated median retirement age, workers report retiring at a median age of 62, the survey found.
Boomers: Dreams versus reality
About 1 in 5 people over 59 don't have a retirement account, the highest share of any generation, Credit Karma said. The gap between their goals and the reality of their savings could explain why boomers are pushing up their retirement age, Goodsell noted.
Many Baby Boomers are already facing a shortfall: 54% of Baby Boomers still in the workforce have less than $25,000 saved for retirement. Of that group, more than half have no retirement savings at all.
How much do baby boomers have saved for retirement? A recent report by the TransAmerica Center for Retirement Studies found that members of this generation have a median of $162,000 across all of their retirement savings accounts.
The median baby boomer household isn't doing much better, with $134,000 in retirement savings in 2019, the most recent federal data. That's about one-third of the average retirement savings in that age group, $408,420, a figure inflated by the super-rich.
Baby Boomers are an incredibly wealthy generation, with a median net worth of $1.19 million and over $30 trillion in inheritance expected to be passed down over the next couple of decades.
And given that 33 percent of these baby boomers are single, they may face economic, social, and health disadvantages because they aren't married.
As technological advancements have improved our health and life expectancies, Baby Boomers are one of the first generations to experience a longer lifespan. From 1950 to 2014, the average life expectancy rose steadily. Men's life expectancy rose from 65.6 to 71.,1 and women's rose from 76.1 to 81.1.
"Baby boomer" refers to a member of the generation born between the end of World War II and the mid-1960s. Because of their large numbers and the relative prosperity of the U.S. economy during their working careers, baby boomers as a group remain economically and politically influential.
Millennials (and the kids born after them) are currently being called the “unhealthiest generation” in human history—facing diagnoses, mysterious illnesses and conditions that our ancestors or their parents never faced.
Gen Xers are a comparatively rare group.
Compared to Baby Boomers (75 million) and Millennials (83 million), Generation X members are outnumbered. Estimates have placed the population at around 65 million.
That is why the generations today each span 15 years with Generation Y (Millennials) born from 1980 to 1994; Generation Z from 1995 to 2009 and Generation Alpha from 2010 to 2024. And so it follows that Generation Beta will be born from 2025 to 2039.
In summary, there are many factors that impact the investment behavior of baby boomers in retirement. However, fears of a demographics-driven decline in the stock market do not appear warranted at present.
As America's baby boomers, named for the post-World War II surge of births, retire from defense industry jobs, their former employers are counting on millennials, who became young adults in this century, to take their place.
In line with the literature (see Strauss & Howe, 1991), participants were divided by the customary division into two generations: those born from 1928 to 1945 (the Silent Generation) and those born between 1946 and 1964 (the Baby Boomers).