The intelligence level of the boomers is irrelevant. Point is, you move the markets. The question is, who will follow you after most of your kind are retired and lessen their consumption? The only direction is down.
Annie Leibovitz, iconic Boomer, $24MM in debt: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/fashion/02annie.html Yeah, blame it all on the young 'ins...
Last I checked, the U.S. is what, less than 5% of the world's population. There's no shortage of warm bodies that wouldn't jump at the chance to occupy any slots that start opening up over the next few decades.
Over the next few decades, yes. But until then, watch out. These shifts simple don't take effect that quickly. Also, how many of the 95% are living in less than stable political conditions?
It's boomer generation arrogance like this that will cause the younger generations to turn on you. Expect no mercy
In the U.S., boomers fueled the dot.com AND the real estate bubbles. Those are just two examples of how powerful they were in deploying capital, whether in equities or hard assets. They are a significant chunk of the population, dwarfing the size of their replacement pool in sheer numbers and spending power, and they're about to go MIA, in the "let's be conservative in our retirement years" mode... This is especially true as they've seen their home values crushed, and their returns on equity investments wiped out over the last 12 year period. Whatever they put in after 1998 is certainly worth less. I wouldn't be surprised if the average boomer has lost 35% of their net worth, and more than that as a % of their liquidity. Shock and awe, baby. Shock and awe.
And it only applies in probably a handful of places overall. The people who are making money and doing very well are few and far between in the GRAND scheme of things. Sure, if you surround yourself with wealth and abundance you're not going to see much of the other side of the picture if at all; and vice versa. But the rest are hanging on to the cliff by their fingers, either slowly slipping off, or just one or two good gusts will take them off. When they hit official retirement, sure some will get pensions; but it's a pay cut essentially when you're making just enough ends meet as is with your current salary, unless you're in government or the like. Some will start getting their payouts afterward in their 401K's or IRA's; whatever they lost will cut down either the number of years they get paid out, or less than originally anticipated if on a fixed year payout. Others who don't even have that will essentially be broke; Social Security isn't going to jack (especially if it isn't even around in 20 years), some used to get side jobs but good luck right now at the rate this economy is going...and that nice payoff isn't going to cover you very long Now, from what I've seen my parents will do OK for themselves right now; combined they make about 140-150,000/year & both 60. Dad's got a nice government job that'll pay out soon when he retires (if he decides to at that point; could go a bit longer), and Mom's been a RN for 30+ years, which she'll be able to at least relax, maybe do some odd hours for side money, and have the payouts/health care available to cover. House will be fully paid off in 3 years or so, both will retire in about 5. Hang around for a while, then sell off when (as stands now) the housing market shakes the last bits of its junk out (it's in a nice, stable town, so should get good money for it...maybe not "top dollar" but close), and then buy down something smaller probably in Florida like lots of others Depending on their spending means (factoring in the sale of the house), they could live moderately/comfortably for at least 15-20 years. Still in a way, not fully protective if they get in their 90's. One can't predict the future...