Born one second after midnight on Jan 1, 1946 - Kathleen Casey-Kirschling has a honor that if she could sell it on Ebay - would make her a millionaire. The first of many to come. We are not your momma's porch-swinging, tea sipping generation. We are the Baby Boomers.
Kathleen is our nation's 1st baby boomer and she filed for for her Social Security benefits this week. She is a retired middle school teacher and will be eligible for benefits on her 62th birthday next year. It is estimated that 10, 000 people a day will become eligible of SS over the next 20 years. This is the generation of almost 80 million born from 1946 to 1964. If left alone, the SS trust fund will go broke in 2041 but experts are optimistic that the issue will be addressed after the 2008 elections.
Besides our collective enthusiasm to let the young un's take over the world, we share a wealth of notions about retirement that are wayyyy different from the generations before us. 62 is the new 50, in more ways than one. Dh and I have had a few conversations about how nursing homes had better change when the BB's hit the front door. I, for one, will need lots of table space for my IPod and the Bose dock. They had better have WiFi ready and I will need a big wall for my 60' plasma TV. We are prepared to party, will be our cry.
SS Commissioner Micheal Astrue calls us, America's Silver Tsunami. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think? However baby boomers will collectively be remembered, I would imagine that it won't be like your mamma's generation. BB grandparents may be younger than in generations before. I can remember that if you were not finished having all the off spring you were going to have by 25, you were way behind the mommy curve.
Let the Retirement begin - Last December, I got my first pension check from my former workplace. It will be 7 more years before I am 62 and start collecting the first of which I hope are many SS checks. Got a lot of living to do and a lot of boomers to do it with...
