Top News From Today's Boomiverse

Calling Intellectually Active Adults
Valerie Finholm
Hartford Courant
November 30, 2008

Overview: “An increasing number of baby boomers are heading back to college — this time to live in 55-and-older ‘active adult’ housing developments built on or near college campuses.”

http://tinyurl.com/5g9avx

Economy faces heavy blow from stocks funk
Burton Frierson
Reuters
November 26, 2008

Overview: “Some people can't wait for the day they retire, but 49-year-old Christiana Drapkin is relieved she's not at the finish line yet after the rout on Wall Street ravaged her retirement savings.”

http://tinyurl.com/5jjooc

Remember Rosie, the maid, from the “Jetsons”? Boomers may not, but for us Gen Xers, as children, the Jetsons were part of our staple after school television diet, along with the “Bionic Woman,” the “Incredible Hulk,” and all the other characters who represented the oh-so-70s newly empowered individual—arguably a strong reflection of the boomer ethos in full swing.

For the rest of today’s blog, continue at the Boomer Blog

The spirit moves Baby Boomers
Paul Briand
Examiner.com
December 2, 2008

Overview: “AARP has found that Baby Boomers are intensely spiritual, believing in divine healing, miracles and guardian angels.”

http://tinyurl.com/55f7jk

Retiree Havens Turn Younger To Combat the Housing Bust
Kelly Greene and Jennifer Levitz
The Wall Street Journal
December 1, 2008

Overview: “For Sheldon Behr, buying a condo in Century Village East has meant the chance to live out his retirement years with other older adults who enjoy golf, long walks and comedy nights at the clubhouse. But with the financial crisis deepening and the housing market stalled, a growing number of units at the 55-and-over community are lying vacant.”

http://tinyurl.com/56bdfl

Cyber Monday sales growing
Rita Robison
Seattle Post Intelligencer
December 1, 2008

Overview: “Almost 30 percent of active Internet users are baby boomers. That means boomers are turning more and more frequently to on-line shopping to meet their needs.
Baby boomers used an Internet search more than 75 percent of the time when purchasing automobiles, appliances, and electronics, according to Performics.”

http://tinyurl.com/57zhea

Top News From Today's "Boomiverse"

Baby Boomers, Gen Xers Cope With Shifting Connotations of 21st Century Retirement
Marketwatch.com
December 1, 2008

Overview: “The Retirement Products Market for Baby Boomers and Generation X in the U.S. provides a critical and in-depth look at the big picture shaping retirement planning and retirement products in the United States starting with the fundamental question: What is retirement? It then confronts the major economic, social and political issues defining the national conversation about retirement and the individual's role in planning for his or her own retirement.”

http://tinyurl.com/5prfvw

Baby boomers give Peace Corps a chance
Jessica Meyers
The Dallas Morning News
December 3, 2008

Overview: “Eileen Marin didn't think ‘change’ when she listened to President-elect Barack Obama's recent endorsement of the Peace Corps. She'd heard it almost a half-century ago, when President John F. Kennedy used similar words to inspire baby boomers like Ms. Marin, some of whom are just now acting on them.”

http://tinyurl.com/67hzrs

By guest blogger Matt Thornhill, Boomer Project

Dan Quayle (remember him, the boomer who was Bush 41's VP?) once attempted to quip, "The future is ahead of us." Not exactly Bartlett's material, but, well, true. So true.

For the rest of today’s blog, continue at the Boomer Blog

Top News From Today's "Boomiverse"

Home Appliances to Soothe the Aches of Aging Boomers
Paul Glader
Wall Street Journal
December 3, 2008

Overview: “With the stock market in turmoil and housing in a slump, appliance manufacturers are taking the long view and retooling their offerings for aging baby boomers.”

http://tinyurl.com/6jtc9c

10 Healthcare Changes Caused by the Economy
Philip Moeller
U.S. News & World Report
December 3, 2008

Overview: “Older Americans are cutting back on their healthcare because of the recession, an AARP survey finds, with 20 percent saying they have health problems caused by financial stress and about a sixth saying healthcare cutbacks have adversely affected their health.”

http://tinyurl.com/69nr5h

Top News From Today's "Boomiverse"

Ready to Retire
Linda Stern
Newsweek
December 4, 2008

Overview: “How the baby boom generation is changing the concept of retirement.”

http://www.newsweek.com/id/171915

Let’s Go Holiday Shopping!
Chuck Nyren
Advertising to Baby Boomers

December 3, 2008
Overview: “The other day this showed up in my Google alerts: Step back into time: Gifts for nostalgic and sentimental baby boomers. Baby boomers tend to be a sentimental lot. And what better time to buy into this nostalgia than at Christmastime?”

http://advertisingtobabyboomers.blogspot.com/2008/12/lets-go-holiday-shopping.html

Baby Boomer Survivors
The Snohomish Times
December 2, 2008

Overview: “We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all. If YOU are one of them? CONGRATULATIONS!”

http://www.snohomishtimes.com/snohomishNEWS.cfm?inc=story&newsID=166

Top News From Today's "Boomiverse"

Youthfulness an American obsession — at what cost?
Martha Irvine and Lindsey Tanner
Associated Press
December 6, 2008

Overview: “As the baby boomers march toward retirement, Botox, wrinkle fillers and hormones of various kinds have become big business.”

http://tinyurl.com/5vjdwj

Obese baby boomers costing $3.8b a year
Sydney Morning Herald
December 3, 2008

Overview: “Obese baby boomers are costing Australia an estimated $3.8 billion a year in lost productivity, leading demographer Graeme Hugo says.”

http://tinyurl.com/6nqxyv

Top News From Today's "Boomiverse"

Boomers: The Next Twenty Years — Institute for the Future
Boomers
Brent Green
December 4, 2008

Overview: “Importantly for marketers, IFTF’s expert panel and ethnographic research — which combined is being called 'Boomers: The Next 20 Years' — delivers meticulous glimpses into the diversity of decision-making styles in the Boomer generation; how these action types cope with changing opportunities and threats; and, in aggregate, what businesses can anticipate about the needs and wants of the Boomer generation during the next twenty years.”

http://boomers.typepad.com/

How Do Boomers Use Their Mobiles?
eMarketer.com
December 9, 2008

Overview: “To boomers, mobile phones are not a gateway to the Internet—yet. To them, the Internet is a source of information rather than entertainment, and that is also how they see their mobile phones.”

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?id=1006792

Top News From Today's "Boomiverse"

Baby Boomers seek fountain of youth
Paul Briand
Examiner.com
December 8, 2008

Overview: “It's known as cenegenics and it's catching on among some Baby Boomers as a way to defy aging.”

http://tinyurl.com/5nqrge

Baby Boomers "Boom" to Online Resources through TheEssenceOfMaturing.com
PR Web
December 10, 2008

Overview: “Rice, a Boomer herself, is the proprietor of www.TheEssenceOfMaturing.com, a website that is dedicated to providing resources and links to help fellow Baby Boomers find products to help themselves maintain good health. “

http://tinyurl.com/6msht9

Top News From Today's "Boomiverse"

RETIRING: Baby Boomers Begin Adapting To Risks Of Aging
Robert Powell
MarketWatch
December 11, 2008

Overview: “Over the next 20 years, boomers will face many risks. Some are well-known and documented, such as the risk they'll outlive their assets and spend their life savings on long-term care. Some are less understood, such as the risks resulting from a rapidly deteriorating environment. But what's unknown is this: How will 77 million boomers deal with these and other unique risks as they move into their 60s, 70s, 80s and beyond?”

http://tinyurl.com/6ggp4c

Getting Younger by the Moment
Michelle Slatalla
New York Times
December 10, 2008

Overview: I mean, really, what’s so bad about being a boomer? They are, according to Mr. Smith of Yankelovich, a wildly optimistic group. Asked in a 2006 poll at what age they think someone is too old to learn or start doing something new, they answered 86.6 years. ‘Since the average lifespan in America today is just shy of 78, essentially what boomers are saying is I’m never going to be too old to do something new,’ he said.”

http://tinyurl.com/5gzssg

Top News From Today's "Boomiverse"

Boomers grow Facebook ranks
Paul Briand
Examiner.com
December 12, 2008

Overview: “Have you noticed who's on Facebook these days? It's not just your younger children and their friends. It's you, Baby Boomer, and your friends ... and in growing numbers.”

http://tinyurl.com/6knmnh

Boomers snap up easier life
Michele Lerner
Washington Times
December 12, 2008

Overview: “The baby boom generation, followed and researched for its impact on everything from social values to politics to the economy, is edging closer to retirement age. Real estate developers have been eagerly studying the potential moves this age group will make, revamping home designs and creating communities that they hope will appeal to the over-55 set.”

http://tinyurl.com/5td9h6

Top News From Today's "Boomiverse"

Dr. Robert J. Froehlich: Follow the Baby boomers
theMatureMarket,com
December 14, 2008

Overview: “From my perspective, I think the better bet is becoming a long term investor and betting on the baby boomers.”

http://tinyurl.com/5e4nrm

Top News From Today's "Boomiverse"

The Romance of the Rails
Daniel Machalaba
Wall Street Journal
December 13, 2008

Overview: “A generation that grew up with model trains is renewing its love affair with Lionel and others”

http://tinyurl.com/5pp7an

A Baby Boomer Reinvents Herself
Laurie Orlov
BoomerCafé
December 13, 2008

Overview: “Baby boomer Laurie Orlov is a woman who has reinvented herself. Which puts her in a nice position to do it again. And her mother helped, although not in the way you’d expect. Here’s her story.”

http://www.boomercafe.com/2008/12/13/laurie-orlov/

Top News From Today's "Boomiverse"

They Didn’t Get The Memo
Chuck Nyren
Advertising to Baby Boomers
December 17, 2008

Overview: Nyren reflects on the Washington Post article, “Kelley, Like 'Boston Legal,' Won't Go Quietly.”

http://advertisingtobabyboomers.blogspot.com/

Baby-boomers most efficient at cutting energy costs during recession
Response Source
December 17, 2008

Overview: “The survey asked over 500 people about the energy saving steps they take both at home and at work. The findings showed that when it comes to tightening belts this Christmas the ‘baby boomer’ generation are steps ahead of younger generations.”

http://tinyurl.com/5pemp4

Top News From Today's "Boomiverse"

The rise of the late baby boomers
Scott Kraft
Los Angeles Times
December 18, 2008

Overview: “President-elect Barack Obama may well be one of the 79 million members of the baby boom generation. But he's a late-wave boomer, a child of the 1970s -- as are half of the two dozen people he's selected thus far to help him lead the country.”

http://tinyurl.com/3um26w

Latest IRI Study Finds One Size Does Not Fit All for Baby Boomers
Business Wire
Marketwatch.com
December 17, 2008

Overview: "Boomers or Boomlets? Micro-Segmentation Critical to Serving an Aging Population."

http://tinyurl.com/4u5a59

By guest blogger Matt Thornhill, Boomer Project

A few weeks ago we reported on the "New Age of Frugality" that folks like BusinessWeek and others sensed was on the horizon.

For the rest of today’s blog, continue at the Boomer Blog

I think I first became aware that I was a separate entity from my family as the world collapsed in mourning following the assassination of John F. Kennedy. I had just wiped my tears when we were drawn deep down by the assassination of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr and then Bobby Kennedy. As awful as all that was and still is, I can never forget the murders at Kent State. I knew I grew up then. Youngsters killing youngsters; no morality, no questioning authority, just aim and shoot. To this day, those images stain my mind and sustain my cynicism about society and our capacity for evil over good.

Now we’re here at the close of 2008 where greed, hubris, self aggrandizement and narcissism have caused the breakdown of our global financial system. We’re near a pinnacle of world debasement with insults literally thrown at our leaders and six years into a war that has been questionable from its first encroachment. We‘re ignoring the reality that children are starving, families are homeless and healthcare is provided at mediocre levels at best.

I am book ended by the Age of Aquarius and the Age of Wonder. The wonder of living to see Barak Obama elected president. Of once again experiencing the passion and youthful enthusiasm around these past elections, the motivation and frank pride of diverse people stepping up and showing their strength. I always wonder about destiny, and if all this history and contemporary knowledge was pre determined. If it was written, I say thank you. If it’s our destiny, I say thank you again. Happy holidays and a safe and joyful 2009.

Eileen Marcus