The Boulevard to Financial Independence

By Matt

There is a big focus on Boomers in the financial services industries, most notably around their IRA rollovers. Pretty soon there is going to be a lot of money set in motion as Boomers cash out of their existing jobs and roll their retirement plans over, as they embark on something new. This last week I’ve been reading Turning Silver Into Gold and while the title sounds reminiscent of a self-help book, the insights it offers on the Boom demographic are really valuable.

Since my interest lies in personal finance, I’ve been focusing on parts of the book that touch on this topic, as well as marketing to Boomers. Here are some interesting finds:

1. A survey conducted 20 years ago showed that Boomer’s top priorities were having a healthy sex life, a successful job and balancing family and work. Now the top three are:
   1. Enough money to retire
   2. Overall financial health
   3. Enough energy to do what they want
2. Boomers like brands that have a sense of social purpose and they’re the fastest growing Internet user segment
3. As the most well educated and wired generation Boomers (the book’s claim, not mine) will increasingly use the internet to answer financial questions
4. Good health and financial security have been identified as the most important elements of a satisfying retirement (MetLife)
5. A full 65% non-retired people age 50 and older say they are worried about having enough for retirement (Gallup)
6. How much have people saved toward retirement? For working households of pre-retirees aged 55 and older it’s $60K at a rate of $229/month, with 11% who haven’t started saving yet. For the 25-40 crowd it’s $9K at $92/month with 21% who haven’t begun to save.
7. The most important market segments among Boomers are empty-nest couples and older singles
8. Over 75% of Boomers plan to continue some type of job during retirement. Over 50% plan to start a new career during retirement.
9. Boomers are increasingly having to address elder-care issues as their parents age, while dealing with children seeking financial assistance.

So looking at this market and the key pain points, it’s obvious that there is a real opportunity to solve some of the financial problems Boomers are going to encounter as they prepare for “not-work.” There is a lot happening and if you can provide financial advice coupled with great tools and content focused on key areas like travel, health, spirituality, housing and new careers then you can provide a real service.

Real services will go beyond overt attempts to cash in on money decisions and will build trusted relationships. No banner ads. No questionnaires about the type of loan you want followed by a field for your email address. No poorly designed interfaces.

Real solutions will leverage the knowledge of consumers for their own benefit and connect people who can learn from each other. Real solutions will offer professional-grade advice. Real solutions will strip away complexity and allow you to see the impacts of all your potential decisions.

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