BOOMER TRENDS FOR 2017

BOOMER TRENDS FOR 2017


Baby Boomer Trends

Baby Boomers Have Always Been Trendsetters. As We Grew Up, We:

  • Caused our parents to move to the suburbs
  • Marched for equal rights for blacks, women, gays
  • Rallied for peace – beginning with Viet Nam and continuing today
  • Entered college in droves
  • Fought against the corporate “glass ceiling”
  • Gave birth to fewer children
  • Bought mini-vans and chauffeured our kids to play dates and activities
  • Started the exercise craze – remember Jane Fonda?

Today, We Boomers Still Power Trends. Among The New Ones:

  • Health, Vitality & Wellness – Call it the desire to be “forever young”
  • Work, Money & Avocation – Postponing retirement, or changing its face
  • Creativity & Learning – Colleges are seeing the return of the Boomers
  • Passion, Play, Travel & Adventure – Because we do not work all the time
  • Fashion & Beauty – Botox is just the beginning of our impact
  • Family & Friends – We realize their importance
  • Caregiving & Grandparenting – Yep, now we’re the “sandwich generation”
  • Romance / Love & Sexuality – We’re NOT too old …
  • Giving Back, Volunteering & Philanthropy – Who said “me generation?”
  • Religion & Spirituality – We’re open to the Universe …

And Here Are a Few More Facts About Baby Boomer Women:

  • By 2030, 54% of the 78 million American Boomers will be women. Used to shaping our own lives, marching, picketing, campaigning and protesting we will have the power to speak out and take action as never before.
  • Women have stepped to the forefront as the force in making consumer purchasing decisions, from 91% of homes, 60% of cars and 51% of electronics; an estimated $ 20 trillion annually.
  • Baby Boomers hold more than  90% of the country’s net worth  and account for  78% of all financial assets .
  • Netting out to the fact that Boomer women control over 60% of the nation’s wealth. Since we outlive men by an average of five years, we can expect that we will live to see a time when 80-90% of women will be in charge of their family’s financial affairs.
  • As we enter the second decade of the 21st century, women are on the verge of attaining economic parity with men—something our great-grandmothers and grandfathers would never have imagined.
  • With this new economic fortitude, women have the opportunity to take previously untapped power into their hands to influence the direction of the marketplace, the workplace, the family, and worldwide leadership.
  • By the year 2030, there will be 71.5 million Americans age 65 or older, more than double the number currently within that demographic. And more than half of them will be women.

MORE BOOMER TRENDS FOR 2017

Boomers control the $$$

For starters, America’s 75 million Baby Boomers control about 70 percent of all disposable income in the U.S. according to Nielson.  On top of that, Boomers are set to inherit about $15 trillion dollars over the next 20 years.  With that kind of financial might, analysts expect Baby Boomers will continue to ignite a consumer spending boom over the next several years.

“They can sustain and be a strong driver of the consumer economy over the next five to ten years especially the upper-income households.  They have the money to spend.  It’s a different mindset of saving before and now saying, I’ve got to spend it while I’m here,” says Doug Hermanson, principal economist at Kantar Retail.

Where are Boomers spending their extra money? 

Travel is on big area. AARP estimates Baby Boomers spend more than $120 billion annually on leisure travel and in a recent survey it found that a gi-normous 99 percent of Baby Boomers plan to travel this year.  Once-in-a-lifetime international trips are especially popular among Boomers along with warm destinations including Florida, Las Vegas, the Caribbean and Mexico.

Boomers will also spend tons on healthcare in order to maintain an active lifestyle and remain young-spirited. To help facilitate the goal, demand for pharmacy prescriptions, vitamins and other health-related products is expected to increase. Interestingly, Boomers do not like shopping for health products at big box stores. Hermanson says, “It’s those stores that are easier to navigate, more convenient, more familiar and in many cases, stores with better customer service that will appeal to Boomers.”

In addition, Boomers love their surrogate children – their pets! They spent nearly $30 billion on pets in 2014, accounting for 45 percent of all pet spending in the U.S.  “They have more time on their hands. They are not working and it makes more sense.  They still want that full house, something to parent to some degree so pet spending and having pets is still going to be a huge part of the Boomer lifestyle,” Hermanson says.

Boomers embrace technology

According to Kathe Kline, podcaster for Rock your Retirement, more Boomers will embrace technology than ever before. She observes that even just a year ago most adults over 60 didn’t know what a podcast was. Now, Kline enjoys a growing subscriber base in that age group.

Improving the Home Experience

As we know, most of us want to age-in-place. So, it is no surprise that Baby Boomers are spending more on their homes.  Kantar Retail found they spend more on home improvements and repairs annually compared to any other age group.

Boomers are also dishing out more to watch their favorite television programs at home.  A Gallup survey found 40 percent of Boomers said they were spending more on cable and satellite television.

What about women Boomers?

Women in this age group are a force to be reckoned with. The National Association of Baby Boomer Women notes:

  • By 2030, 54% of the 78 million American Boomers will be women. Used to shaping our own lives, marching, picketing, campaigning and protesting we will have the power to speak out and take action as never before.
  • Women have stepped to the forefront as the force in making consumer purchasing decisions, from 91% of homes, 60% of cars and 51% of electronics; an estimated $20 trillion annually.
  • Baby Boomers hold more than 90% of the country’s net worth and account for 78% of all financial assets.
  • Netting out to the fact that Boomer women control over 60% of the nation’s wealth. Since we outlive men by an average of five years, we can expect that we will live to see a time when 80-90% of women will be in charge of their family’s financial affairs.
  • As we enter the second decade of the 21st century, women are on the verge of attaining economic parity with men—something our great-grandmothers and grandfathers would never have imagined.
  • With this new economic fortitude, women have the opportunity to take previously untapped power into their hands to influence the direction of the marketplace, the workplace, the family, and worldwide leadership.
  • By the year 2030, there will be 71.5 million Americans age 65 or older, more than double the number currently within that demographic. And more than half of them will be women.