Free The Aging Boomers Essay Sample

1. Introduction of your findings
- State your purpose
- State your problem, trend, or topic and why you chose it.
2. Describe in detail your article.
3. What did you learn from this article? (nothing is acceptable)
4. Summary and conclusion.
5. DON’T FORGET – Include a separate Reference page citing your resources
6. Format must follow the MLA Publication Manual standards.

Introduction
Baby boomers refer to members of the US population that were born from 1945 to about 1964 . To this generation belong many great innovators and influencers like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and many others. Many remain in power and lead many countries and corporations in the world. In a way, they have defined the lifestyle that we enjoy. This is the generation to which many parents of this generation still belong. As such, these parents certainly would have had profound influences on their children, many of which are members of today’s generation.
Like products, people have life cycles. People are getting old. The baby boomers during their prime would have been prime movers of technology development. Although some of them remain active in contributing to developments today, they will soon be retiring. By 2029, the baby boomers would all be 65 years old or older.
The aging of baby boomers would have profound change in the demand for certain products. An aging generation can sometimes be ignored by more youthful marketing persons. Yet, baby boomers would remain a lucrative market though diminishing and changing. They after all would have retirement pay and savings to spend. Also, they may have more time for leisure and more money for luxury items appropriate for their age.
This analysis is being prepared to understand the evolution of this market and thus also understand how the younger generations would also evolve. This is also to help understand how the needs of the baby boomers could change in the next years.
“Boomer Retirement: Headwinds for U.S. Equity Markets?”
The approaching retirement of baby boomers is adversely affecting the stock market. Baby boomers have provided a sizeable amount in investments. As they retire however, they are pulling out these stock investments and spreading them across a variety of other safe and easily encashable instruments. Many are also pulling their investments altogether and spent their money for themselves.
The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (FRBSF) has observed a close correlation between the earnings ratio of stocks and demographics. In particular, stock earnings depend on the population of people with income and savings, age groups 20-29, 30-40, and 40-50. As the population in these groups declines, so do stock market earnings. The growth in population has been slowing down, so the population in these age groups are also decreasing. The population is growing older. A declining population does not only have impact on just the stock market. It has impact on many consumer products. With declining population growth, growth of demand for certain products also declines.
Since demographic changes are predictable, it can be forecasted that future stock earning can also be predicted. As more people grow old, investments in the stock market would also go down. Stock prices and earnings are thus affected.
This seems like simple logic. However, it is only now that markets are feeling the effects of an aging population, particularly of baby boomers.

Lessons from the Article

One of the important lessons learned from this article is that all generations grow old. The baby boomers are an example. People grow old and die. As a market, they diminish in size and impact. Their impact however cannot be taken likely as shown by what is happening in the stock market. The baby boomers’ approaching retirement has changed the way they do business with the stock market and in turn the profitability of the market. These trends could actually change industries. Baby boomers in their younger years practically defined how things are done today. They are however no longer in their youth and their needs have changed. Thus, things that cater to the them needs to adjust correspondingly.

Conclusions

The baby boomers are getting old and slowly diminishing in number. However, their disposable income might also be growing. Most would no longer have young children to support and would have more time and money to spend on themselves. Like the stock market discussed in the article, some industry could adversely affected and need to redefine certain aspects of them to cater to the younger generation. At the same time, certain methods of doing business may need to change to address the needs of baby boomers. One can reasonably expect that these people would no longer be as tech savvy as younger ones. They will have weaker bodies and poorer eyesight. These little details might seem insignificant by they are important factors to consider in product and technological development. Baby boomers may be diminishing in number. Still, with their disposable income, they remain an important market. Besides, every generation age. Today’s generations will also reach a point similar to that of baby boomers. Some basics about aging need to be understood better. In understanding the aging market, companies and government can better serve them using modern technology beyond traditional stereotypes.

Works Cited

Colby, Sandra L. and Jennifer M. Ortman. The Baby Boom Cohort in the United States: 2012 to 2060. Census. Washington: US Department of Commerce, 2014. PDF. 5 Mar 2015. <http://www.census.gov/prod/2014pubs/p25-1141.pdf>.
Forbes. "The World's Most Powerful People." Forbes 2015. Web. 5 Mar 2015. <http://www.forbes.com/powerful-people/list/#tab:overall>.
Liu, Zheng and Mark M. Spiegel. "Boomer Retirement: Headwinds for U.S. Equity Markets?" FRBSF Economic Newsletter 22 Aug 2011. Web. 5 Mar 2015. <http://www.frbsf.org/economic-research/publications/economic-letter/2011/august/boomer-retirement-us-equity-markets/>.