Survey: Hispanic Boomers Part Of Sandwich Generation

November 18, 2002 at 07:00 PM
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NU Online News Service, Nov. 18, 8:05 a.m. – Many U.S. baby boomers really will be "sandwiched" between financial obligations to children and aging parents when they retire, and the burden could be even worse for Hispanic Americans, according to results of a survey released by The Allstate Corp., Northbrook, Ill.

Thirty-eight percent of the 1,400 U.S. boomers interviewed said they would be financially responsible for parents, children or grandchildren during retirement, and about 10% said they would be responsible both for parents and for children.

Hispanics are even more heavily burdened, according to the survey, which was conducted by Harris Interactive Inc., Rochester, N.Y.

Fifty-three percent of the 200 Hispanic Americans surveyed said they would be supporting children or elderly parents in retirement, and 19% said they expected to be responsible both for parents and children.

Only 2% of all boomers surveyed, but 6% of the Hispanic Americans, predicted that obligations to family members would be their biggest expense during retirement.

Jaime Carlo-Casellas is not surprised by the findings.

Carlo-Casellas, president of Hispanic Market Consultation Services, a division of CC Scientific Ltd., Palm Desert, Calif., says taking care of one's family is part of the Hispanic culture.

"The Latino at an early age adapts the culture, and the culture is a present-oriented culture, and, being [part of] a collective society, they concentrate on taking care of each other without really thinking of the financial resources needed to do that," Carlo-Casellas says. "Traditional advertising tactics generally don't take that into account."

Financial services companies interested in reaching the Hispanic market should do so through media that can explain the value of financial planning to Hispanics, Carlo-Casellas says.

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