Kids born in 1946 — the beginning of the baby boom generation — gathered around their TV sets to watch the Mickey Mouse Club, Leave it to Beaver and Howdy Doody. The kids born at the tail end of the boom, in 1964, tuned into Scooby Doo, Super Friends and Little House on the Prairie.
Early and late boomers have widely varied cultural perspectives and life experience — so advisors lump them together at their peril, the Insured Retirement Institute warns.
While their differences are not as pronounced as the gap between boomers and millennials, younger boomers will likely face additional challenges, according to an IRI report released Monday.
Overall, just 34% of boomers said they were confident in their ability to retire comfortably, the report found. However, older boomers, those between ages 61 and 66, were more confident, with 42% saying they could retire comfortably. Just 25% of boomers between ages 50 and 55 agreed.
It doesn't hurt that early boomers are more likely to have retired already, making retirement a reality instead of a vague unknown.
"From a retirement planning perspective, we need to start segmenting the boomer cohort to ensure that we are appropriately addressing their unique retirement needs and challenges," Cathy Weatherford, IRI president and CEO, said in a statement. "Those on the back end of the generation have had a much different workplace experience than the first boomers."
Weatherford noted that unlike many early boomers who likely have pension plans, younger boomers were more likely to spend most of their careers in the defined contribution plan era and "will face many of the risks and challenges that have come with it. As a result they will be more self-responsible for their retirement income security. At the same time, late boomers have less saved for retirement and their low confidence regarding their future financial security reflects this."
