#BabyBoomers #ChildrenOfBabyBoomers #80In2026 #RealEstateAppreciation #inheritances
The oldest of the Baby Boom generation will turn 80 in 2026.
The first socially conscious generation will see their children and grandchildren, in many cases, not do as well as they did financially.
Mike Schneider discussed this milestone in an Associated Press story published Dec. 27, 2025, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The Baby Boomers are a product of parents coming back from World War II and creating a lot of babies.
Back then, starting in 1946, the country started a prosperity boom that would last many years. The middle class, if not born then, grew exponentially, thanks largely to the GI Bill, which allowed troops coming home from war to build lives – and relatively cheap homes — in what are now mostly suburbs.
Those homes appreciated greatly during the lives of the children born to those families.
Even the youngest of Boomers have reached age 65, which is the retirement age for many.
As those Boomers die, many will pass on a great inheritance to their children and grandchildren.
Boomers were also among the first to get married later and have fewer children. That trend has continued, but not for the same reasons, among subsequent generations, the article states.
During the formative years of the Baby Boom, civil rights among oppressed groups advanced. Women’s rights also advanced. More kids went to college. Many women established careers, thereby often postponing marriage and/or having children.
Logically, the longer people wait to have children, they will have fewer of them. Large families became unusual.
The children and grandchildren of the Boomers face different circumstances. More of them are living in their parents’ home well into adulthood. To paraphrase a quote from the Schneider article, their parents were able to buy lots of stuff cheap, that the later generations cannot.
Rents, groceries, cars and all the necessary things to build a life are way more expensive now than when the Boomers were young. Continual appreciation is good for the sellers, not the buyers.
And the salaries for the Boomers’ kids and grandkids have hardly kept pace with the higher costs. That makes it much more difficult for young adults today to start independent lives.
Some of these young adults will undoubtedly be leaning on Mom and Dad, or their inheritances, well into middle age. How they are going to have comfortable retirements remains a big question. Hopefully, they won’t squander their inheritances.
Yes, America, as are most countries of the world. Is aging. Schnider points out that without robust immigration the population will decline in the coming decades. China is already seeing signs of a shrinking population despite government incentives to have more children, according to recent reports.
As the U.S. cracks down on immigration, companies are looking to AI and other technological advances to do the jobs humans once did. Some people, particularly young adults just starting their lives, might be apprehensive at entry-level employment prospects, no matter how smart they are or how much education they have.
The Boomers, by and large, had a good life., and many still do. But, if they wanted their offspring to have it better than they did, many will be disappointed.
Peter