What the Stock Market and my Menopause may have in Common!

If you are a male reader, don't be squeamish. Read on. For my female readers, especially those of you enduring never-ending hot flashes, you'll totally get it.

For some strange reason, I haven't found the stock market crash or the ensuing ups and downs of the exchanges, or even the imploding world economy, all that hard to relate to. None of it came as a surprise. Oddly, I have found that I relate to the volatile ups and downs that each new day brings. And last night (or through the night, shall we say), I finally figured out why.

Bear with me for another minute as I explain the menopausal process in MY skin. There are two major factors at play. One: my hormones are trying, with increasing fury, to force me to drop an egg in a last gasp at fertility. My hormones don't seem to realize that I've already had the child I'm going to have and have no plans on another. However, in this valiant attempt, every month, whether the menses arrives or not, my body puts me through torture as it tries to convince my tubes to produce and drop another egg. This creates hormonal surges which in turn reek havoc on my temperature regulators...meaning...hot flashes.

Two: Hand in hand with the hormonal fluctuations are mood swings, the likes of which I've never experienced in the past, and are absolutely, passionately horrific and have brought the worst out in me...actually worse than I could have thought possible. My general demeanor is calm, patient, infinitely kind and incredibly loving. This monster that strikes out from within is cranky, crabby, mean-spirited, angry and...yes...nasty. Just as the hot flashes surge, this nastiness, the other side of Janet, surfaces in full glory as my body tries to ovulate and then, crescendoes in a PMS (Pre-Menstrual Syndrome)worthy of Hollywood.

The minute I get my period, my hormones immediately (as in within minutes) go back to normal and my true nature (or let's just say the one I'm more used to) comes back for another couple of weeks until the entire vicious cycle starts again. And may I add that you don't just hot flash for a day...no...it goes on for one or two weeks at a time...from when you "should" have ovulated, all the way through to when you "should" have had a period.

What no one tells you is that regardless of whether or not you have your period, your hormones will still cause the uproar...and riot and storm...until you no longer have eggs to potentially drop.

Which brings me to last night. For the last couple of weeks, the flashes have flashed again. Just last week, sitting at a friend's home, in the space of 30 minutes I put on and took off my sweater at least 4 or 5 times, wiped sweat off my brow and kept asking, "Is it hot in here???" Worst of all, is that when your internal temperature regulator is shot, you can get alternately very cold and very hot within minutes of each other...for hours, days, weeks at a time. (Aha...are you starting to see where I'm going with this?)

Last night was a killer night. It was about 65 in my house and when I went to sleep I was freezing. I put on a sweatshirt and socks over my summer PJs (shorts and T) and cuddled up under my covers. That was at 10 pm. 11 pm threw my covers off. 11:15 was freezing again and grabbed as much of the comforter as I could to warm up. Midnight? Boiling. Threw left leg out of the covers and arms up over my head. 1:30 am: FREEZING. Covered up again. 2:30 am: Sweat dripping down my forehead, ripped off the covers, the sweatshirt, but kept socks on. 4:00 am. Freezing once again. Put sweatshirt around me and covered up. 4:22 am: BOILING. Threw everything off except the shorts and T. Decided to call it an early day and grabbed my computer.

Covered up again and as the heat of the laptop caused, yet again, another flash, I realized that my volatility was strangely similar to the ups and downs of the STOCK MARKET. "Our economy is in the throes of MENOPAUSE!" was the big thought at 4:22 am. Of course. All the useless credit just like the eggs no longer worth anything. The readjustment of the economy to no more credit eggs is like a broken temperature regulator and the market is suffering hot flashes and cold sweats until it will rebalance at the other end. Unable to produce more offspring, but at least to make use of lessons learned...maybe?

It's 5:52, I'm suddenly cold and quite tired -- this surge is done for now. I'd say I'll be 3% up at day's end.

What can I possibly add?

Please indulge me. Like you, I've got a lot on my mind.

Every pundit has made their comments on the state of the (now) world economic meltdown, the presidential candidates, their VP selections, and how Harvard and MIT graduates are afraid they might not find a job.

After 4 plus years blogging my little heart out on issues affecting the careers of boomers and 50 plussers, giving advice freely, and looking at creative ways to overcome career obstacles, I actually am not sure what I can possibly say right now. The elephant in the room was always the rampant age discrimination. But now...yikes...all of the next generation is going to be fiercely scrabbling for jobs and the out of work boomers and 50 plussers are really in a pickle.

I'm ALWAYS an optimist and even I'm having a tough time seeing past the next decade or so. What really made me laugh (that would be a sarcastic, cynical kind, not a haha kind) was listening to financial experts advising people to secure their next FIVE years of financial need by taking that money OUT of the stock market and putting it INTO the money market. I'm sorry...but are you laughing, too? Who HAS FIVE years of good, hard cash squirreled away anywhere?

There is SUCH a disconnect between those with oodles of money and the rest of us, that you don't even have to draw a line in the sand. There is a Grand Canyon between "them" and "us". I have literally received hundreds of emails over the past few years from people in their late 40's to their mid-70's who have used up their money reserves, have no health insurance, are losing their homes and with the best of intentions and incredible work ethics CANNOT find work. How will that play out now?

Some of you will remember living as a WWII baby, with rationing and little money for any extras. My mother had two skirts, 2 blouses and 1 sweater. She wore them through high school because her family had no money for clothing. When it was time for her to go to her first sorority ball and she had no dress, my grandmother used all the grocery money for the month to get my mother her first cocktail gown. My mom wore them with her aunt's shoes, too big for her, with newspaper stuffed in the toes so she wouldn't fall out of them. They had soup for a month.

Is that where we are headed once again? I mean TV is going digital in February and unless you have a converter or cable or satellite, you'll be out of luck. Well, I may be out of luck, because if I need the money, I'll be cancelling my satellite service. As will many, many others. The whole thought of needing cable because of HD signal just seems so...bizarre, given that I may end up wearing only sweater, 2 skirts and two blouses for the next 5 years.

I was always amused at the hoarding habits of my parents -- saving elastic bands and wire hangers, individual nails and screws, small amounts of leftovers, keeping old clothes from decades prior because they were "good quality" even though completely out of fashion. And now, here I am, using containers for my daughter's lunches instead of ziplocs, cleaning my own house instead of hiring someone to do it for me, planning my driving routes to conserve on fuel consumption, meeting friends for a coffee (at one of our homes) instead of a lunch out.

In my neck of the woods, just this past weekend, a father murdered his entire family and then killed himself due to the financial duress he was under. That child attended my daughter's school. And I can't get the story out of my head. People are generally very resiliant, so what is going on?

In my optimistic heart, maybe what will come out of this disastrous falling of an empire, will be better...closer families pooling resources, innovation and creativity as more and more 50 plussers start their own businesses (focusing on customer service more than product) because they can't get someone to hire them, more focus on limiting oneself to spending cash at hand than credit tendered.

Tonight is Yom Kippur -- the start of the day of atonement for all Jews. The next 24 hours will be a time of reflection, asking God for forgiveness, forgiving others and rejoicing in a clean slate for the year ahead. My day of fasting will be with a heavy heart, because the slate really can't be clean right now. We all know that we are heading into a tough, tough year ahead.

What a mess. 6.1% unemployment rate.

If you are a Boomer or 50 plusser then I can guarantee that you have not been burying your head in the sand about our economic situation. Let's take a clear look at the financial landscape -- both in the US and Canada and internationally.

We are about to experience possibly a decade of severe recession, which will reshape the entire way the US economy, job marketplace, and family structure functions. This morning, the unemployment rate is at 6.1% and will likely climb to 7% in the next few months. How does that impact a mature worker? Badly. Very badly. Not only have the financial markets have been hit, but small business, traditionally the kindest and most open to hire a Boomer or 50 plusser, is in deep trouble with a staggering credit freeze threatening to shut many more business doors. That means that the already struggling 50 plusser is really going to have to think out of the box in order to secure employment. In the short term, assume your credit will be cut. It is time for personal austerity measures, if you haven't done so yet. That means, no extraneous travel. Dinners at home, cooking from scratch, cutting your cable TV, no buying of shoes, clothes and all those things you can live without. If you have received any type of foreclosure or late notice on your home mortgage, you must contact your lender immediately to apply for loan modification due to hardship.

The austerity measures will in turn affect the small businesses even more adversely than they already are and the economy will shrink. So where is the good news in all of this? Hard to find, but there is a bit there.

If people can take a bus instead of driving, they will. Walk or biking instead of fuel-run travel? They will. Parents and children will live together longer, fostering the all important values of multi-generational information sharing. No more Cable means more reading, more library visits, more outdoor exercise. Cooking, sewing and knitting will come back into vogue (again) and heck, there might even be a resurgence of darning.

If you are 50 plus and looking for work, it will be a long hard haul right now. So that means you'll have to connect with and network with as many people and their leads as you can. If you are relying solely on the internet, think back to when you were first breaking into the job market. How did you find work then? By finding friends of friends of friends, literally knocking on doors, and meeting people face to face.

Is this US election very important? Yes. Canada is having elections prior to the US elections in order to avoid a strong US election impact on the Canadian voter psyche. When we are talking about the need for change in the US, this is not change as most of us know it. I am not an economist or financial advisor by a long shot, but anyone can see that any major strategic and financial reform (which is necessary) will take 8 or 10 years to have a positive, long term result on the overall economy. For those of you who remember living through the austerity measures of the 2nd world war, you'll remember food rations, material rations (shorter skirts), lack of silk, fuel, metals...you name it. I was brought up to avoid credit and only to purchase something if I had money in the bank. I was shocked at the mounds of credit that is offered to Americans (including my 8 year old daughter.) The days of living beyond one's means has to end -- and is ending whether we like it or not. Just try to buy something that takes you over your limit. You'll find yourself quickly declined. Tough for the consumer living on their credit cards and virtually impossible for the small business who counts on credit for cash flow. We're almost as frozen as a mammoth in a glacier.

This time the war has spread to within the US and within the economies of most major markets, and that means serious economic reforms in order to keep this particular, and very young, empire from falling.

Less than $5?

Wisebread recently asked for submissions on what a person could do in their city for under $5 a person, so given the crunch on ALL our finances and with the turn to autumn, I gave it a thought and decided I'd post a few things that I love to do for under $5 in my city. Feel free to add your own. This will get linked to the post on Wisebread.

Encino, CA (Los Angeles)

I happen to live in a lovely part of Los Angeles -- ungodly hot in the summer, but fantastic weather the rest of the year. That means I can pretty much count on decent weather for an outdoor excursion on the weekends.

Right around the corner from me is the stunning Balboa Park. From my house, I can hop on my bike, get onto a bike path and cycle for about 10 miles through and around the park and Balboa Lake. To spend my $5, I stop, with my daughter, at the ice cream trucks dotted around the park and for $1 we can each enjoy a Superfudge and a SnoCone. If we're starving, we can find a hotdog vendor, which will top us up to our $5!

Another great local place is "The Stand". Every Monday night, hotdogs are free (or $1), and every Thursday night is free jazz in their outdoor patio. For $4 or $5 we can have a hotdog or mac'n'cheese and listen to some jazz in the great outdoors.

Last one -- throughout the summer, the Skirball Center has free jazz concerts in their outdoor hall. You can bring your dinner with you and eat out while listening to the sweet sounds of the multinational talent that comes in to tantalize the audience with their music.

One Bank's Folly, Another Bank's Gain

I hate...HATE bureaucracy. Nimble business is my thing. If I have a choice, I'll deal with a small business any day, unless a "big boy" decides to step up to the plate on the customer service end of things. So, needless to say, I'm not a big fan of banks, insurance companies, healthcare (in any form in THIS country), humongous chains, etc...unless their customer service is top notch.

Who do I like? Vonage (phenomenal customer service...necessary to handle the challenges of switching to relatively new digital phone technology), Walmart (yes, I do...they provide excellent customer service), Washington Mutual (top notch customer service), Gelson's (food chain), Nordstrom's (although even their famous customer service reputation is starting to fall), and American Express for Business. And that, my friends, is about it.

So it is with a sad giggle turning to a flat out guffaw, that I point you to a terrific post on Corinne Copnick's blog "Cryo Kid" to read about a sad (and very true) look at dealing with the banking world as you see your dollar shrinking.

How is business going to be hit? How are jobs going to be affected in 2008?

The economy (as evidenced by the news over the past several months) is doing more than slowing down. It is roaring to a screeching halt...and right where it will hurt the middle class. If you think of who really supports the economy, it is the small business. Although the mega-conglommerates take in so much of the money up for grabs, small business is the army of ants that build, work, and continue, to support the country.

This year is going to hit small business really hard because of trickle down effect. With so many super-companies shutting so many doors (see my article on retail closures) let's look, for a second at a detail on impact. Let's take Ann Taylor. They are closing 117 stores. That is 117 store managers and assistant managers that fit into the definition of the middle class. In one store, the one manager will now be unemployed for, let's say 4 - 6 months which is a reasonable average in today's market. She (most Ann Taylor store managers will likely be female) has to support herself and there is a 50% chance that she is divorced and may also be a single mother. If she had a health plan, she'll now have to pay COBRA in order to keep her plan, but let's assume, she can't come up with the $500-$900/month it may cost to keep the plan. She'll let it lapse and will join the ranks of the uninsured. Her focus will be on paying the rent, for her car (or not), food, and the care of her children.

Will she go to her dentist for her routine cleaning? Likely not. Will she switch from her hair stylist to a less expensive walk-in chain? Or grow her hair long? Likely. Make her own meals rather than dine out? Yup. Avoid paying for expensive movies in the theaters? Yup. Cut off her cable? Possibly. Switch off the cell or landline and only have one phone? Probably.

And that is just the start. Now let's move on to the dentist. The dentist relies on teeth cleaning for business retention so that when a cavity or cracked tooth crops up, you go to the dentist who has been cleaning your teeth for years. Out of the 117 Ann Taylor stores, with only 2 managers at each, that is about 234 teeth cleanings that will likely not happen. If a woman gets her hair cut every six weeks, then over 6 months, that would be just under 1200 haircuts lost. The dentists will lose over $20,000 just from those 117 stores. And the stylists...about $280,000. (If you are an economist, you'll likely argue my figures...but this is just for illustration purposes.)

So what am I going to keep my eyes on in the next six months? The dental industry, and the beauty industry. How will dental hygenists do in terms of finding work upon graduation in 6 months? What about cosmetologists (hair stylists)? Will more dental offices open or close? How many new hair salons will open? How many will close their doors?

If I were looking for a job right now, where would I look? In recession proof areas -- services and products that people cannot live without. And I wouldn't be looking at the market today, but trying to project what that trickle-down affect will impact 6 months or a year from today.

I never intended to be a political or economic commentator....but 7000 retail outlets going bye-bye? I gotta say something!

A very long headline for a lot of economic downturn. Egad. Waking up yesterday to NPR again depressed the bejeebies out of me. I think I'm going to have to change back to ocean sounds. Here's the deal. Last year, that terrible economic year (the one where most of us lost 10% of our investment portfolios) over 4500 retail outlets closed up. This coming year, the projection is for 7000 retail outlets to do the same. That's a heck of a big number. Who is being hit? An article in the NY Times in mid-April gave a prelimary look at just a few who are going to (or already have) shut down.

Bombay
Levitz
Sharper Image
Linens'n'things
Footlocker
Ann Taylor
Zales
Wickes

It isn't the shift in consumer spending alone that is to blame for such a devastating scope of closures. If you consider that most of these retailers accumulate staggering amounts of debt and use credit as their means of cash flow, many of them are unable to handle the tightened purse strings and higher rates of interest that lenders are enforcing. Combined with lessened consumer spending (who is going to buy that new sofa when you need the money for your increased mortgage/credit card/fuel costs), they have little choice but to close doors. Up to 7000 closed doors projected for 2008. Mind-boggling.

Other experts believe that this is a simple economic readjustment...that there are, in fact, too many retail operations per capita. I do like this theory, because as a consumer, I often feel that there are too many choices...so many that I can't make a decision on what to buy. As a result, I'm likely to delay my purchase...deadly for retailers, who rely on quick consumer decisions to close a sale. Survival of the fittest. We've got a tough year ahead on the economic front.

PS. Cost me $90 to fill my tank yesterday. Which meant only one pair of Old Navy jeans for my daughter instead of the two pair I'd been planning to buy. And dinner at home instead of out at a restaurant. And a DirecTV movie instead of Blockbuster rental. And...and...and.

Marketing to Boomers and 50 Plus? I'm JUST Irritated.

At 78 million plus strong, we are a marketers dream. The Boomer and 50 Plus generation falls into two camps. Those with and those without. Money, that is.

Marketers are falling over each other to find out what we will or won't spend our money on. Will there be a recession? Won't there be a recession? Will the media frenzy about the maybe yes/maybe no recession force a recession? What does Ben Bernake think?

I'll tell you what I think.

• If I have a job and a house and can pay my bills...no recession.
• If I have lost my job, lost or in the process of losing my house and cannot pay my bills...recession.

Regardless of what happens in the overall economy, it is our personal need and perception that really counts after all. So what I want to know from you is this:

What do you WANT to spend your money on in 2008?

What do you NEED to spend your money on in 2008?

What will you NOT spend your money on in 2008?

Add your comments to this post or email me directly at wspiegel@genplususa.com. I may post a survey and if I do, I'll also make sure to publish results.

Over 50 and Want a Job with NASA? Yes...THAT NASA!

#1 -- Login to your Gen Plus account http://genplususa.com/login.aspx
#2 -- Search for jobs and look for keyword "NASA"
#3 -- Apply to the coolest job opportunity for all -- INCLUDING Boomers, 50 Plussers and retirees...

Huh? That's right. Our good friends at Kelly Services have passed along a spectacular opportunity and I'm spreading the word. Here is the job posting:

NASA (yes, that NASA, the National Association of Space and Aeronautics) is looking for a few good people for an amazing job opportunity! Are you up to the challenge? Kelly Services®, in partnership with NASA Space Camp®, is now recruiting camp counselors! This is a long-term opportunity to work on the NASA campus and be a part of Space Camp, Space Academy®, and the Aviation Challenge®.

What you’ll do as a camp counselor:

• You’ll be supervising, motivating, and teaching young people (ages 9 – 18) as well as adults in a highly educational, exciting, and fun-filled camp environment!
• You’ll lead a team of trainees through their weeklong camp experience.
• When assigned to the simulations area, you will train the students in Space Shuttle mission simulators or jet fighter operations. What you’ll get out of it (aside from a really cool job):
• Enhance your teamwork, leadership, and interpersonal skills.
• Receive valuable experience in the areas of education, space science, and military science toward a future teaching, engineering, science, or military/aviation career. • Free room and board (dorm style) for out-of-town counselors.
• $8 – $9/hour bi-weekly pay with direct deposit.
• Supplemental insurance is available with prescription discount card.
• Intensive paid training and NASA Space History lessons.
• Paid time off.
• Free meals.

What you’ll need to apply:

• Be available beginning in January/February through August (preferred).
• Completion of 30 college credit hours (as a minimum) in any major! Or if you have related life experience (e.g., being in the military), that will work too!
• A real desire to work with trainees ranging from ages 9 – 50 and over.
• You must be at least 20 years of age. Retirees are also welcome!
• Some experience working with children or young adults.
• Two letters of recommendation.
• Your most recent school transcript. [ed. note: your most recent may be from 1962...but that is OK!]
• An interest in space and aviation, and the ability to learn fast and retain information.
• Successful completion of four-week counselor training program (provided by NASA), and completion of required testing.
• Must be able to walk long distances.
• Must be able to handle the demands and rigors of long days and responsibility"

This is a GREAT opportunity. If you currently have NO job, or are looking for a meaningful change, are looking to have an incredible career experience, give back to others, save a bit of money AND have one of the coolest job histories ever, don't delay and apply today. Your life experience has a great deal of value. Go for it. And let me know if you become a NASA counsellor. I'll want to shout it out to the world!

Two terrific articles on what's in store for 2007...

One of my favorite columnists, Ann Fischer (Fortune Senior Writer) wrote a great post on What to expect at work in 2008. If you are working and got between a 3-4% raise, you can expect about the same in 2008. And if you are not working, or looking for a new job, there is some great info about what you need to know to stay on top of the job search game and the power of the internet in your online profiling.

Another insightful blog post on Time Goes By takes a look at the health and wealth of the Baby Boomer moving into their 60's. If you are wondering who moved YOUR cheese, check this out and see where (if!) you fit into the retirement picture.

I have to go get a chocolate bar, now. And exercise. Darned resolutions.

Chaa...ching. Money talk, for women

I was unable to take part in a blogger news conference last week on the Pax World Women’s Equity Fund with Sujatha Avutu and Julie Fox Gorte. However I was delighted to get a few of my questions asked in my absense and here is the link for any of you who would like to get some top notch education first-hand (or should that be "cyber"hand?) The purpose of the news conference was to brief bloggers on issues surrounding investing strategies for women, making policy-aware investments and the nature of a mutual fund committed not only to the financial bottom line but to the ethical one as well.

For those of you who do not stay on top of what goes on in the financial world, this is a must-listen. This is a lively discussion and filled with fantastic information on social investing, sustainability, micro-investing and on and on. This is named a women's fund because their is a service focus on the gender needs of the client and the type of information that women must be aware of as they invest, however, the fund is open to all. I love these types of e-conferences. Bloggers really offer an exciting form of new media (vs. traditional media) -- they are not beholden to anyone other than their own personal mission or direction -- and as such they are determined to source the best information they can get for their readers. This conference is no exception.

Navigating the Financial Blogosphere -- a New Book by Russell Bailyn

What do you get then you mix together traditional print, new media, financial expertise and bit of innovation? A terrific financial resource -- a new book by Russell Bailyn, titled "Navigating the Financial Blogosphere."

Bailyn has taken tried and true financial information but approached it in a novel way. Not only is his book very user-friendly, and constructed in a sequence that takes you, literally, from understanding your relationship with banks, all the way through managing a complex portfolio, but he does it from the perspective of someone who believes wholeheartedly in the power of the resources that can be gleaned from the internet.

In a refreshing look at what education the internet brings to the table, Bailyn caps every chapter with a summary of websites, blogs and other resources that can help anyone make informed financial decisions. He even includes a focus on the 50 plus demographic (I'm very delighted to have been referenced along with two members of our Blogging Boomers Carnival: The Boomer Chronicles and So Baby Boomer -- chapter 25 if you want to find us!)

Well chronicled chapters and a robust index will help you find the resources you need. Bailyn is a widely popular financial blogger, as well as a contributor to several financial sites. As a result, he has been able to distill the often overwhelming material that can be found on the web and condensed it into bite-sized chunks that even the most timid, novice, or reluctant investor will find manageable. And for the more savvy, there is an abundance of resources that will keep them participating in their further education for years to come.

Very well done. And kind of fun, too!

Navigating the Financial Blogosphere is available in most local bookstores across the US and Canada.

Vintage 90's...or dot.com to sub-prime

Staying abreast of the news that past couple of days, watching as more and more of the "sub-prime" lenders see their empires slipping away, I've been having a niggling feeling that I've seen all this before.

This morning, waking up at the crack'o'dawn with my daughter coughing and feverish and my dog's wet nose plastered against my cheek, I had the feeling that I'd been waking up like this for some time. And then, (of course, because what ELSE would one think about before the sun rises) I had a 90's flashback -- of the dot.com crash, where everyone realized that the emperor wasn't wearing any clothes -- followed by the deja vu of seeing the sub-prime market come crashing down. I always thought the no-interest, sub-prime market was ridiculous because it was lulling people with insufficient financial savvy into a false sense of ownership, thinking that their financial picture would change before mortgage rates rose. Kind of similar to stock prices climbing over the concepts of web-based companies, with venture capitalists looking for the next manna from heaven.

We'll see thousands of employees flooding the marketplace after losing their sub-prime jobs and thousands of bankruptcies and foreclosures. The job market will stagnate slightly as the marketplace rebalances again. Sound familiar? But whereas there were no assets to pick up on after the dot-com crash, there is real property that was stacked up again the sub-prime mortgages. People will be picking up property from the misfortune of others and the real estate market is projected to readjust and then restabilize. I sense that 50 plussers, with some financial savvy and a bit of savings may end up the big winners as this game unfolds over the next few years.

Cupid's Arrow?

One of my favorite columnists, Anne Fisher (Senior writer for Fortune), pens a great column today on office romance and some statistical findings from several good sources. For more on love (or lust) in the workplace, check out today's article: Cupid at work: 3 tips for office romances

I particularly like Fisher's writing because she takes complicated financial issues and is able to bring them to the reader in laymen's terms and a lot of what she writes about is relevant to the 50 plus demographic. If you subscribe to her newsletter, you'll find it worth your read.

The financial challenge ahead -- for echo boomers

In my daily life, I'm in contact with many age groups -- seniors, boomers, Gen X's and Gen Y's (or echo boomers). And while I dedicate my energies to the concerns of those over 50 years, I am captivated and intrigued by the 20- (and almost 30-) something Gen Y'ers. These children of Boomers and have grown up with the spirited resolution of their Boomer parents and a solid foundation in the middle class.

Where Boomers were fighting against the restraints of the 50's and living free love and free protest, Gen Y'ers are anti-establishment in their attachment to technology, ie., they i-pod, myspace, pda, notebook, and text their way from job to job, iteration to iteration. They invent and re-invent themselves on a whim, at the turn of a dime. They are easily bored and quite rightfully frustrated by the slower thinking speed of those of us born used to seconds and minutes, rather than nanoseconds and gigabytes.

They expect to get paid and paid well for their world savvy and they also expect to move up the ladder quickly. We are seeing school principals in NY, in their 30's replacing the current crop of retirees. We are also seeing financially concerned 50 plussers start to take out reverse mortgages on their homes to supplement their income and cover looming medical costs.

At the same time, their children, Gen Y are seeing the financial support they have grown used to from their consumer-driven Boomer parents...dwindle. But the future is mighty scary and I'm now seeing (and reading letters to the editor) young adults in their twenties, trying to figure out how they will handle the very shaky financial future they see ahead. As one writer put it very well in the NY Times:

If parents' income cannot cover their own medical costs, then this financial support of their children, and their children's children, will abruptly stop.

I am a twentysomething, and my husband and I have maintained our financial independence through graduate school; and now that we have a child, we have little hope of owning a home because we value living close to our parents.
One of the few chances of owning a home was the possibility of inheriting our parents' home. But I guess our parents' houses will probably be sold off by the bank.
The question is, Who will be able to afford them once the baby boom generation's wealth is gone?

Lara Triona Felton, Calif., April 25, 2006

Boomer Moonlighting

A most wonderful article to share today. This one is from way back in November, but it is worth sharing, even several months later. Wall Street Journal news editor, George Anders, published an enlightening piece on...well...moonlighting at mid-later career. For the full article click here.

In our youth, looking at our parents taking on a second job, or a sideline, was almost always an evil necessity...a marker of lack of financial success in life. As we rushed through the 80's and into the 90's, we really gave definition to the aggressive desires and goals of Yuppie-dom. And now, in later career, and nearing retirement age, many of us are creating second, or adjunct, careers -- no longer out of necessity, but of desire.

Mr. Anders takes a good look at what it means to the ego to enjoy the freshness and boost of creating a business or taking on a second job in later life. A lovely read.

I'm sorry...did you say a Trillion?

Estimates on the amount of disposable income in the hands of Boomers is over a trillion dollars. And as the allure of a trillion dollars of potential revenue becomes more and more enticing to marketers and businesses, I suspect that the efforts made to attract that revenue will increase exponentially. With the media hype over the first Boomers turning 60 over the past couple of months, all attention is sitting, right now, pointed directly at 50 plus. All I've been seeing for the past month are fabulous 60's tunes tagged onto ads for healthcare (Bob Dylan), weight loss (Cher) financial planning, and funeral homes. Very, very lame. Beyond lame.

However, that trillion dollars may not be as disposable as the pundits are hoping for. There will be thousands, if not hundreds of thousands...if not millions of 50 plussers who will be seeking new employment after having seen an unfortunate early end to their current career.

When I started Gen Plus, it was because of my observations of the coming decade as a Boomer. Born in 1959, I'm not quite yet a 50 plusser, but I have many friends who are. When my first friend, 53, a high-powered corporate sales exec, was bounced out due to his salary, I watched him head back to school to learn a new discipline and hope to find work in an entirely new field. He did. Eventually. But it was a heartbreaking path for him to follow and a challenging time for his family to support.

When my next friend, 51, was axed from her job as a Director of Marketing, she could not find work. Any work. She rented out her home to roomers to pay her mortgage and is struggling with starting a new business.

And it is no different today than 20 years ago, when my mother, at 50, tried to start her career again, as a divorced woman...and she could not. Eventually she did start her own business, but she could not break back into the traditional work force.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the writing on the wall (oh... and the rocket scientists are out of work too -- I know quite a few of them.) The word is ageism and it threatens to take the self-esteem of a generation that built a world filled with hope and optimism and brave forward-thinking movement. So the trillion dollars does belong to 50 plus, but a lot of aging Boomers will be hard-pressed to spend it. They'll be banking on that money to support another 3 decades of living. Every day, we search to find more small businesses and 50 plus friendly employers to give you more work options so that you can continue to contribute to the workplace and earn for many, many more years.