I call it the tsunami of stuff. It's cresting. There are a lot of baby boomers. America's over-65 population reached 55.8 million in 2020, and an additional 42.4 million are in the 55-64 age group. This adds up to nearly 100 million people who have amassed a large amount of possessions - stuff they bought, stuff they got from their own parents, stuff their kids stuck them with.
Baby boomers are navigating an uncertain global market and looking for investments that can generate steady passive income. They're looking for income-generating assets and capital preservation. But this doesn't have to mean a high-risk investment that generates a minimal payout.
The reason is simple: those who leave their careers to enjoy a well-deserved retirement lose the benefits of a regular salary and the benefits of their jobs, such as 401(k) matching and company-paid healthcare. In addition, many Baby Boomers take advantage of their retirement years to travel and enjoy the rewards they have worked hard to achieve throughout their lifetime. Choosing investments wisely is imperative, and at 24/7 Wall St., we constantly search for the best ideas for Baby Boomers and retirees.
The inheritance trend is especially pronounced in California, where tax policies encourage families to keep homes rather than sell them, according to the report. State rules cap property tax increases at 2% per year. They also allow children and grandchildren to inherit tax benefits on the first $1 million of real estate value if the home becomes a primary residence. Nearly 60,000 California homes were inherited in 2025, accounting for 18% of all property transfers in the state. For the first time, inherited homes more than doubled the number of new homes sold. Cotality said these incentives create a significant financial incentive for beneficiaries to hold onto the inherited home and use it as a primary residence effectively locking potential supply out of the open market.
Every generation has a different approach to food and cooking, and plenty of Baby Boomer cooking habits mystify younger generations. If you've ever been in a Boomer's kitchen, you've likely encountered a few of these practices yourself. Younger cooks may not cook as often or with the same ingredients, and the differences come with a history. Boomers are a generation who grew up in a different era, with parents who'd endured the Great Depression and with food advertisements promising
It was kind of cute when Aaron Terrazas' retired parents first started gifting him and his siblings various items and trinkets they'd accumulated from their travels over the years. But the little handoffs pretty quickly crossed into very annoying territory. "It just became more stuff that filled up our homes that we didn't need or have space for," Terrazas, a 40-year-old economist in Seattle, says.
Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) grew up in a time of rapid technological advancements and cultural change. This post-World War II generation witnessed the advent of landline telephones and transistor radios, and were amongst the first to have televisions in their homes during their youth. But beyond these historic milestones, there were countless household tools that defined the Boomer childhood - especially those used in the kitchen.
Roughly 4.18 million Americans will turn 65 in 2025, marking a peak year for the boomer retirement wave. This high annual number equates to 11,400 a day hitting their mid 60s on average. The average baby boomer says they only need about $990,000 to retire comfortably, according to a 2025 Planning and Progress Study by Northwestern Mutual. This post was updated on November 1, 2025 to include the most up-to-date numbers and statistics on boomers.Key Points About This Article Unfortunately,
The Baby Boomer generation has an unusual relationship with technology. Due to the huge strides made with digital technology, computers, smart phones, A.I., and all other associated telecommunications and information processing they entail, there is a somewhat unfair stereotype that a majority of seniors are Luddites and still living exclusively in the analog realm. Besides the fact that most of the people who built the current architecture,
To be honest, I'm not at all surprised this question is coming up, although it's likely to have come up dozens of times in the same subreddit, as it's been a hot topic for as long as most of us can remember. There is no question that the baby boomer generation, which ranges from those born in 1946, immediately after World War II ended, all the way to those born in 1964.
The CEO of Meredith Whitney Advisory Group, whose prediction of the Great Financial Crisis earned her the moniker "Oracle of Wall Street," pointed out in a Financial Times op-ed that more than 54% of homes are owned by seniors, up from 44% in 2008. She added that 79% of seniors own their homes, and three-fourths of them don't have a mortgage, meaning they have an enormous amount of equity that can help cover rising homeownership costs, such as insurance.
The most infamous example of middle-income baby boomers seeking retribution for the loss of their accumulated wealth occurred in Germany in 2009, when a retired builder and his pensioner accomplice took their financial adviser hostage after more than 2m of stock market investments had crashed.
At the moment the chancellor gives away more than 50bn in tax relief for pension saving, most of which goes to wealthier boomers and better-paid gen Xers who do not need the money and would save anyway if state support was more limited. A remodelling of pension subsidies cutting the 40p higher rate to a flat rate of 25p for all savers could claw back 10bn to 20bn in extra income tax and national insurance payments, depending on how the new regime is constructed.
The majority of design discussions about this generation focus primarily on accessibility, including clear instructions, closed captions, and larger text. Even though those things are important, they are just the tip of the iceberg. Boomers, who are now in their 60s and 70s, do not consider themselves "old." They do not consider aging to be a gradual decline. Rather, they anticipate continuing to live fully, which includes traveling, interacting with others, learning, and prospering.
The generational transfer of nearly $124 trillion in assets over 25 years will profoundly impact families, advisers, businesses, and every segment of the financial industry.
