Top News from Today's "Boomiverse"

Boomers Stuck in Middle
Russ Wiles
www.azcentral.com

Overview: “Many of today's baby boomers say they find themselves caught in the middle, like strips of ham or turkey slapped between two slices of bread. They're watching out for their aging parents while supporting their kids and trying to sock away money for their own retirement.”

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/1002biz-sandwich1002.html

How Baby Boomers Tap Nest Eggs to Fund Ventures
Arden Dale
www.wsj.com

Overview: “Earlier this year, Doug Dunbar got to the end of a 13-year career at Sprint Nextel Corp. and decided he wanted to strike out on his own with a small business. When it came to funding the venture, he decided to take a big gamble -- one that is becoming increasingly common among boomer entrepreneurs.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119127567798645568.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Baby Boomer Brain Drain May be Hype, But it’s Not a Lie
Shamus McGillicuddy
www.seachcio.com

Overview: “CIO baby boomers call a pending shortage of IT legacy workers bunk. While experts warn that soon there will be a ‘brain drain’ as baby boomers retire and take their legacy skills with them, some CIOs claim it's just not that big a deal.”

http://searchcio.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid19_gci1274861,00.html\

Over-50s 'Happier Than They Have Ever Been'
Sarah Womack
Daily Telegraph – UK
From the FH Boom Archives

The over-50s in Britain are happier than at any other time in their lives, says a report.

The Government study suggests 50 is the new 30, with many who have passed their half-century feeling in the prime of life. Often dubbed "Gotys" - Getting Older, Thinking Younger - they are ambitious, financially more secure and less stressed.

Nearly one in six uses social networking websites and internet chatrooms, while emailing is becoming the norm. Having paid off their mortgages and raised their children to independence, many are still enjoying robust good health into their 60s and beyond.

These are the people fuelling a boom in the leisure market.

But the research, conducted as part of the Government's "Generation Xperience" campaign to celebrate ageing, comes as a deluge of age discrimination cases - launched by those ejected from the workplace in their 50s and 60s - threatens to exceed 1,000 per month by next year.

Lawyers say the Employment Tribunals Service is swamped, not just with equal pay claims but with 2,000 ageism cases since the law came into force last year.

Under the new law, employees can work past the age of 65 if granted leave to do so by their employer. Should they be refused then it must be for "objectively justified" reasons.

Critics say employers will miss out on talent if they continue to wait for the European Court of Justice to abolish mandatory retirement ages.

Richard Linskell, the secretary of the Employment Lawyers Association and a partner at London firm Dawsons, predicted that age discrimination would eventually represent one of the most popular forms of claim.

The Government's research is designed to mark the first Older People's Day today, and claimed the over-50s felt more "inspired" than "retired".

Today's over-50s eat more healthily and have better prospects in later life than their parents did.
Close to one in three over-65s have more goals than they did in their 30s.

Nearly two thirds of over-50s say they are happier now than ever before and eight out of 10 say prospects for later life are better than their parents.

Linda Kelsey, the author of Fifty is Not A Four-Letter Word, said: "A wise older woman once said that she didn't mind being regarded as being over the hill because it's only once you're over the hill that you pick up speed."

Mike O'Brien, the pensions minister, said: "UK Older People's Day today is a chance to celebrate the contribution that 20 million people over 50 make to the UK and to tackle outdated stereotypes of what it means to be 'old'."

For people looking ahead to retirement, less than five per cent said later life meant boredom.

Asked how they intend to spend their later years, personal goals for pre-retirement respondents include more travel (82 per cent), learning computer skills (60 per cent), taking up a new activity such as painting or yoga (61 per cent) and going back to school (43 per cent).

In financial terms, 60 per cent of over-50s feel they are better off.