50+ Housing in the News

Young At Heart...but mostly in your head
"One thing we've found over the years is that people think they're 20 years younger than they are," says David Smith of Cambridge Homes, one of the biggest builders in Illinois and specialists in active adult communities in the Chicago area. "I guess people don't recognize how their age affects them." This article in the Seattle Post Intelligencer points out that Boomers can be sold on universal design, too…as long as it looks good.  Of course, those of us in the 50+ industry have known that for years…

Bush, Clinton, and you: Looking for meaning in the Boomer years
"Boomers know the image that history tentatively has sketched of them. Their parents are memorialized as the "Greatest Generation": survivors of the Depression, victors in World War II, they built an American zenith, and begat the best-educated, best-fed—and now the most powerful—generation that any country has ever produced. But, in public life as in all else, the boomers have seemed confounded by their comfort—and come up far short of meeting Great Expectations," says Howard Fineman in Newsweek's latest take on Boomer culture. He compares Bill Clinton and Bush the second and shows how 50+ leaders are shaping the nation's future.

Increasing spending power means Boomers are getting things their way
According to the Washington Post, manufacturers are working to figure out how to sell easier-to-handle household products to Boomers without making them think they’re for old people. 

New Boomers not relying on kids and pensions
Only 30% of today’s boomers have kids, compared to today’s retirees, 92% of which have children who may be able to help take care of them as they age, according to a story in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Boomers are enthusiastic about working well past “traditional retirement age,” but have fears about income in their later years.  “The Baby Boom Turns 60” asks three professionals who work with generational issues about their predictions for this wave of boomers.

Boomer Beatle helps retirees relate
Advertisers know what they’re doing when it comes to getting Boomers’ attention. This article in the Dallas Morning News looks at how companies are finally realizing that 50+ consumers have money to spend. (Free registration required.)

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