subject: Baby Boomers And Retirement [print this page] As baby boomers enter retirement, many financial experts seek to identify how almost 80 million people from this generation will affect the workforce with their departure and the stock market with their retirement investments, and in turn, how these effects will change employment and market conditions for other workers and investors. Some advisors may even advocate that you take out your stock market investments entirely, and place your funds somewhere else.
Although the retirement figures for boomers may seem staggering, they won't be hitting the market all at once - it's more likely that the effects of their investments would come gradually, and not in a landslide as many forecast. In addition, the effects this occurrence has on the market will be balanced somewhat by newer employees replacing them in the workforce, as well as the retiree's need to manage their money long after retirement begins.
The jobs working baby boomers currently have won't go away because of attrition. New workers seeking to invest will also start buying stocks for their future retirement plans, which will keep the markets healthy for the coming years. The only challenge these new employees and investors need to face is identifying how much they should invest.
The forecast of a stock market disaster due to the "exodus" of the baby boomer generation is highly exaggerated, although the performance of stocks and other investments isn't, at least for the short term. Many so-called investment professionals are using these bleak yet inaccurate projections to force people to rethink their retirement plans and modify them, possibly in an unfavorable and detrimental manner. If your retirement planner wants you to change your existing plans at the last moment because of these "findings," you might have to consider working with another one. Diversified investments, which should involve some form of investment in stocks, will help guard your investment returns from diminishing due to inflation, market conditions, and other related factors.
