The Boomer version of retirement is a new paradigm -- utterly different from past generations. One thing that has dramatically changed for Boomers is the reality that living longer means saving longer. In order to support themselves as they age, many Boomers are realizing they need more money than they originally thought to live comfortably.

A recent article appearing in PlanAdviser.com does a good job of characterizing the challenge. As retirement coach Nancy Collamer points out, “The fact of the matter is that a lot of people have gotten to this point [of retirement], and they haven’t saved enough. Working on a part-time basis becomes a real area of interest for these people.”

A main reason Boomers consider part-time work is to supplement other income, such as Social Security and retirement savings. For some Boomers, these sources simply don't provide enough of a financial security blanket. Research conducted by AARP suggests that the "gig economy" is alive and well for Boomers. According to PlanAdviser.com, "For those age 60 and older, [AARP] found the top ways of earning money without a full-time job include freelance or contract work (48%), teaching (16%), providing pet care (8%), doing home repair, such as handyman, lawn care, or snow removal (6%), shopping for others (6%), and making or growing things (6%)."

The PlanAdviser.com article cites this quote from an AARP executive:

“Among the 65-plus age group, entrepreneurial, gig, or nontraditional work has exploded,” says Carly Roszkowski, vice president of financial resilience programming for the DC-based AARP. “COVID has made us rethink how we want to live and the kind of flexibility we want; the gig or freelance work allows people to work when they want, be their own boss and have that work-life balance.”

Interestingly, the recent pandemic probably helped Boomers feel more comfortable using digital platforms and websites to engage in part-time work.

The key to part-time work for many Boomers is to combine their passion with an income-generating opportunity. George Fraser, managing director at the Fraser Group of Retirement Benefits Group, tells PlanAdviser.com, “[Retirees] can look for things they already like to do and get paid for it. Let’s say I like golf, but rather than pay for a membership, I get a part-time job at the club. If I like to ski, I could get work as a ski instructor.”

I can attest to this strategy. For several years after I first retired as a direct marketing professional, I pursued my passion for writing, both for personal enjoyment and for part-time income. In addition to writing articles and books for my own benefit, I freelanced for a few clients, generating modest but steady income. This offered me a bit of "fun money" and reinforced my professional self-esteem.

Even if your passion is not in the same area as your career, you can pursue something that could turn into part-time work. It doesn't have to be anything very lucrative. Your goal should be to do something you enjoy while bringing in a little extra money. The idea is to reduce some of the financial pressure by supplementing your other sources of retirement income.  

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It is not as if we did not know it was coming -- but new data recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau suggests an America that is aging, with people generally living longer. According to the Census Bureau:

• Between 2010 and 2020, median age in the U.S. grew older due to an increase in the older population.
  • In 2020, there were 55.8 million people age 65 and over in the United States (16.8% of the total population), up 38.6% from 40.3 million in 2010. This growth primarily reflected the aging baby boom cohort.
  • Centenarians grew 50% since 2010, the fastest recent census-to-census percent change for that age group.
  • For people age 70 and over, the male population experienced a larger growth rate between 2010 and 2020 (42.2%) than females (29.5%).
• In 1970, after all the Baby Boomers (1946-1964) had been born, half of the population was younger than 28.1 years old. By 2020, the median age was 38.8, an increase of more than 10 years over the past five decades.
  • In 2020, the population age 45 and over accounted for 42% of the total population, up from 27% in 1940, the census before the Baby Boom began.
  • The share of the population age 65 and over more than doubled between 1940 and 2020, from less than 7% to nearly 17%.

• Among the states in 2020:
  • Fourteen states had a median age over 40, twice as many as in 2010.
  • Twenty-five states had higher shares of population age 65 and older than Florida had in 2010 (17.3%), when it had the highest share of any state. In 2020, Maine had the highest share at 21.8%, followed by Florida (21.2%) and Vermont (20.6%).

These statistics tell a cautionary story when it comes to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. With a burgeoning older population, a looming question about these social programs is, of course, their solvency. The statistics have other implications; for example, there will be a greatly expanded need for caregivers to serve aging Americans in their homes, as well as an increase in the availability of independent living, assisted living and skilled nursing facilities.

It is important to understand that this is not just occurring in the U.S. but around the world. According to the World Health Organization:

By 2030, 1 in 6 people in the world will be aged 60 years or over. At this time the share of the population aged 60 years and over will increase from 1 billion in 2020 to 1.4 billion. By 2050, the world’s population of people aged 60 years and older will double (2.1 billion). The number of persons aged 80 years or older is expected to triple between 2020 and 2050 to reach 426 million.

While this shift in distribution of a country's population towards older ages – known as population ageing – started in high-income countries (for example in Japan 30% of the population is already over 60 years old), it is now low- and middle-income countries that are experiencing the greatest change. By 2050, two-thirds of the world’s population over 60 years will live in low- and middle-income countries.

Is America -- and the rest of the world -- ready to meet the challenges associated with an aging population?

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay.com

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