Happy Birthday Ed Mahern of Indiana!
On January 1, 1946 at two seconds past mid-night, Ed was one of the first Baby Boomers born in the Untied States. On January 1, 2011, he was one of the first Baby Boomers to turn 65. Over the course of today, 10,000 other Baby Boomers will join him in celebrating their 65th birthdays. And then every day going forward approximately 10,000 more Baby Boomers will turn 65—for the next 19 years!!
79 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964 are Baby Boomers. Today marks the day the Silver Tsunami hits and keeps on hitting for the next two decades. The impact that this generation will have on our country’s social support programs (Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid) will be enormous. These programs are already straining to keep up under the current levels of demand. Baby Boomers comprise 26% of the population in the U.S., and as they keep aging we will look back on the current economic environment as the “good old days”.
Now that the Silver Tsunami is upon us people will need to do more planning for their own long term care benefits. It is a given that there will be less government dollars to go around. Adjustments to those programs such as raising the minimum age levels, lowering payment amounts, and more restrictions to use of funds are all on the way. Most people ignore the eventual consequences of not being prepared to fund long term care. The more people can prepare themselves for the inevitable, the less shocking it will be when it is their turn to enter the Long Term Care Industrial Complex.
Please click the variety of links to articles that came out discussing this long anticipated day…
More on The Beginning of The Silver Tsunami:
- Mahern’s journey mirrors that of Baby Boomer generation
- Boomers Hit New Self-Absorption Milestone: Age 65
- Baby Boomers Start To Turn 65: 16 Statistics About The Coming Retirement Crisis That Will Drop Your Jaw
- The first round of baby boomers turns 65, qualifying for Medicare, possibly swamping system
- The baby boomers turn 65: Retirement is a reality for some, a distant dream for many and a big ‘not yet!’ for others.
- Social Security hits first wave of boomers
- The Baby Boomers Turn 65 – Retirement is a distant dream for many, while some boomers have been retired for years
- The First Wave of Baby Boomers Is Turning 65 in 2011: Is the country ready or will this be a shock to the system?