Will Baby Boomers Be Able to Stay in Their Homes?

Will Baby Boomers Be Able to Stay in Their Homes?



Another of the complex issues facing the Baby-Boomer generation has to do with affordability of housing. Many continue to make monthly mortgage payments while some, who have planned well, have paid off their mortgage and pay only property tax. Still, the research on housing and the Boomer population is concerning.

By all indications and according to a report released by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies on September 2, 2014, "Housing America's Older Adults," housing will become an issue based on the projection that by 2030 the number of adults age 65 and older will be 73 million, more than double the number in 2014. http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/jchs.harvard.edu/files/jchs-housing_americas_older_adults_2014.pdf

The issues arise as a result of many different factors, not just due to the fact of the size of this particular population. Whereas the household budget of working-age Boomers, though burdened with debt, usually covered expenses; all that has changed. Now we witness these same over-50 people trying to cope in a very different economic environment. The combined factors of less savings, more credit-card and auto-loan debt (than their parents'), defined-benefit retirement plans instead of company pensions, fixed incomes, and a skyrocketing cost of living, have set the personal economy of Boomers on tilt.

It's not a pretty picture. The Housing America's Older Adults Report confirms these realities when it additionally projects that over the next 10-year period there will be a 40% increase from 2014 in the number of 65+ households that will live below the poverty level of $15,000. One conclusion made by the authors of the report is that a large percentage of Boomers will have to dig into their monthly housing budget to cover the ever-rising costs of transportation, food and medical bills.

But will they be able to keep their homes?

No big surprise, that when it comes to solutions, the authors focus on the failing of the U.S. Government (government assistance) for "low-income" seniors instead of addressing the utter failure of the monetary system itself. Not seeing the forest for the trees, sadly, government is part of the problem, colluding with central banking and creating systemic money mechanics that erode purchasing power for the 99%.

For this very reason, waiting for the government to do the right thing for you, for your "retirement," is like asking the fox to guard the hen house. Not only is it not going to happen; it is impossible for it to happen. Why? The political system (government) does not have decision-making power over the monetary system. While the current monetary system remains intact, we will continue to come up short, especially in our later years, no matter how the government might increase entitlements. It's mathematical fact, not opinion.

Seeing the writing on the wall by updating our financial IQ turns the spotlight back to each of us. Reinspirement™ replaces retirement, and is the light at the end of the tunnel. The more Boomers who get it going and set an example, the easier it will become, especially for the next generations who will need it even more.

Susan Boskey