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OLDEST BOOMERS TURN 80 IN 2026

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#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

ARE YOU 20-SOMETHING AND STILL LIVING WITH MOM AND DAD?

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OK, you’re 20-something, with no job, perhaps a college degree.
Let’s presume you don’t want to be living at home, but you don’t believe you can afford not to.
If you PREFER to live with your parents, that may be a discussion for another time.
Peter Dunn, an author, speaker, radio host and personal finance expert, tells young people to “knock it off,” as the headline reads, and stop laying their financial problems on their parents. He discussed this in a March 29, 2016, column in USA Today.
Dunn says that every late-night pizza, every beer and every other good-time splurge in college contributed to the young person’s financial dilemma.
“Your parents (speaking directly to the young folks) want to cut you off, but are afraid to,” Dunn writes. “It’s not good enough to stop asking for money. You must tell them you don’t need their money anymore.”
Admittedly, the problem is not as simple as it appears. Kids go to college expecting to come out with some kind of job. But, as the last few years have taught us, not only is that not guaranteed, it’s becoming more unlikely in certain fields.
On top of not having a job, the kids may have mountains of college debt lurking in their lives.
Certainly, if you are in college now, you need to be aware that you might not have a job when you get out. The earlier you plan for it, by, say, watching your spending while in school or getting work experience in some area that might employ you when you get out, the better off you will be.
It’s great to love your parents. It’s great for your parents to love you. The greatest love you can show your parents, perhaps, is not to burden their lives. They are trying to save for retirement. Every dollar they give you is one they cannot put to that cause.
As a young person, you can lament that your parents probably had it better than you as far as the job market goes. Or, you can buck up and find ways to support yourself in the current climate.
Believe it or not, there are many ways out there to do that that don’t necessarily involve manual labor. For one of the best, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. You may have to look outside your comfort zone for a solution, but the possibilities are out there.
Let’s look at this from a social perspective. Do you really want to bring a date back to your place with your mom and dad there? Do you really want to confine your personal space to one room? Do you really just want to hang out at home the rest of your life?
A life is certainly worth working for, even if that work may not be exactly what you want to do. You can also find a solution (job) that is temporary, while you think about how you are going to use all those skills and all that knowledge you paid so dearly for. Chances are, you WILL find a use for it, but it may or may not make you a living.
“I’ve come to the conclusion that asking 18-year-olds to commit to tens of thousands of dollars of debt, without a job, income or assets, is among the stupidest things modern society does,” Dunn writes.
We hear that you can only get a good job with a good education. But some of those “good” jobs don’t pay much. If you are going to commit to a college education, have a plan. Know what you are going to do with it as you proceed. Also, beforehand, do the math. Decide whether the education is worth the debt. There’ no shame in deciding that college is NOT for you, or just not worth the financial sacrifice.
Whatever you do, give mom and dad a break. Come home to visit, even frequently. But make your home somewhere out of theirs.
Peter