Copy link Copied Copy link Copied Subscribe to gift this article Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe. Already a subscriber? Login Baby Boomers were born between 1946 and 1964 – and are the luckiest generation in history. Most of the cohort, which numbers 270 million across the rich world, have not fought wars.
Some got to see the Beatles live. They grew up during strong economic growth. Not all are rich, but in aggregate they have amassed great wealth, owing to a combination of falling interest rates, declining house building and strong earnings.
American Baby Boomers, who make up 20 per cent of the country’s population, own 52 per cent of its net wealth, worth $US76 trillion ($108 trillion). Baby Boomers are not spending their wealth, but trying to preserve or even increase it. Adobe Firefly Now the generation is moving into retirement, what are they going to do with their money? The question matters for more than just suppliers of cruises and golf clubs.
Because they have deep pockets, Boomers’ spending choices will exert a huge influence on global economic growth, inflation and interest rates. And it turns out Boomers are remarkably stingy – not just in America but across the rich world. They are not spending their wealth, but trying to preserve or even increase it.
The issue for the economy in the 2020s and 2030s will not be why Boomers are spending so much, as many had anticipated . It will be why they are spending so little. Econom.
