Baby Boomers Hang On: Working Longer, Not Downsizing Homes

The generation born between 1946 and 1964 continues to exert outsized influence in workplaces, politics and housing — even as they age. According to Business Insider, “baby boomers are a giant generation … the country grew up with them” and yet “the generation is not moving gently into their golden years.”

In business leadership, the average CEO in America is hovering around 60 — straddling the line between Gen X and the youngest boomers. C-suite occupants born in the boomer era are even returning to their old roles: for instance, Bob Iger at The Walt Disney Company and Howard Schultz at Starbucks are emblematic of that staying power.

On the housing front, boomers are similarly staying put. Business Insider highlights that they’re “holding onto their houses” and “control a disproportionate amount of wealth.” Many boomers are postponing selling or downsizing. As the piece observes, “many boomers have been resistant to selling their homes and downsizing … they’re still confident they can stay in their family homes, health-wise; they’ve invested a lot of money and time in their abodes; and they don’t want to take on a new, higher-interest mortgage.”

Even when they do move, boomers are less likely to scale down. Jessica Lautz of the National Association of Realtors notes that while boomers may “suggest that they’re moving for downsizing, … when we look at the data, they don’t by much.” Moreover, about half of homebuyers in their 70s pay cash, and 40% of those in their 60s do—a stark contrast to millennials and Gen X buyers, who make up much smaller cash-buyer shares.

Why the reluctance to retire or downsize? For one, increased life expectancy means these individuals expect to be around — “US life expectancy was 68 in 1950; it’s now 79.”  That extension in lifespan shifts major life-transitions “to the right,” such as retirement and home-sales, according to David Ekerdt.

Financial factors also lock boomers into work and homes: fewer traditional pension plans, Social Security incentives to delay retirement, and the comfort of owning homes outright. Many boomers “just prefer to keep working,” given their identities are “deeply intertwined with it.”

The result: younger generations are facing not only stiffer competition for leadership roles, but also for homeownership. “Families, political parties, businesses, teams, organizations, they all need to devise ways for the young to succeed the old,” Ekerdt says.

In sum, the boomer generation shows no signs of stepping aside quietly. Their prolonged grip on jobs, homes and leadership positions poses challenges for generational turnover — and prompts broader questions about succession, opportunity and generational equity in America.

Source:

Business Insider — Generation Can’t Let Go: Baby Boomers still working, not selling homes