"It’s the economy, stupid."

posted by: Paul

James Carville’s now-famous 1992 slogan helped Bill Clinton defeat a very popular George H.W. Bush. Sixteen years ago, even the oldest of us Boomers were in our mid-40s, and believed we had the time-value of money to recover from the recession.

Today, as we seem on the brink of another recession, time is less on our side and Carville’s observation may seem better tweaked to read, "It’s the stupid economy." Even before the downturn in the housing market, more than 3 of 4 Boomers indicated they would want (or need) to continue working beyond the traditional age of retirement. What might that percentage be today? How many additional years might you be thinking you’ll need to keep gainfully employed in order for your money to last throughout the "longevity bonus years" of your life?

Once more, truth is found in Plato’s saying, "Necessity is the mother of invention." The occasion for meaningfully beneficial partnerships between U.S. employers and their Boomer employees is here. Employers are slowly awakening to the workforce shortage now visible on the horizon. Their aging employees are researching their options, looking for ways to remain financially afloat while reducing their current levels of time and stress at work.

It’s truly exciting to be on the solutions side of this problem:

• Working with employers to create ways to retain the institutional knowledge, experience, dedication and work ethic of their Boomer employees, and,
• Providing holistic planning resources (including coaching) to those Boomers who choose to live proactively into the future.

Throughout their lives, Boomers have seen things as they are and taken action for things to become more as they should be. Today, we Boomers see and feel the economy and looming workforce issues as they are. Our commitment, life experience, life longevity and economic need can work together to strengthen our businesses and our individual and national economies!