You are a Baby Boomer if you are born between 1946 and 1964. There are about 76 million of us between 50 and 70 years old in 2016. This is a very huge and diverse segment of the population.
Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail
Most of us have trouble thinking about retirement and growing older. Aging and the negative connotations it brings to mind is to many a topic to avoid. This is not necessarily a smart attitude.
You are not paranoid just because you want to think through coping strategies. Life happens ...
We all want to have loved ones by our side when trouble rears its ugly head. We are blessed if we are lucky but it pays to adopt the scouts motto of " Be Prepared " for whatever life throws up.
Have you ever thought about what you would do if : -
You were forced into early retirement
You suddenly had to be a caretaker
Your pension or social security is cut
Your living expenses rises faster than expected
You were unexpectedly divorced or widowed
You feel insecure living alone
TRAVEL COMPANIONS
I used to just pack up my bags and jet off to a foreign place for a vacation once a year when I was working and before I met Tom.
We have been on many self-designed driving tours since our marriage. We are now experts at planning trips !
We are thinking that it might be a good idea to try out our next trip with travel companions. We would like to check out the Canadian side of Niagara Falls for a couple of days and then drive northwards to explore the Thousand Islands area in Ontario.
RINKS
My husband and I are RINKS, that is, we are Retired, Independent and have No Kids. We realize that we will have some unique issues in our really golden years. We have come to the conclusion however that many folks with children who live out of state will basically face very similar dynamics.
Both of us love to travel and have been to New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Europe and Scandinavia. We have also driven across the States from Melbourne to Los Angeles and back in the summer of 2008. We also did a 6-week driving tour up north to Maine in 2004. Our vacation last year was a 2-week self-drive tour and cruise in Alaska. We have also been to British Columbia and Alberta a couple of times. Margaret has also been to China, Australia and Tasmania.
We are also into ballroom dancing. Tom and I are usually at the Friday night dances at the Melbourne Ballroom.
CO-HOUSING
I have always enjoyed the sitcom " Golden Girls " back in its heydays. In fact, I had almost formed my own clique back in my late thirties before I met Tom.
Now, 2 decades later, perhaps it is time to think about the concept again. There is no harm in keeping an open mind. It only takes one but sometimes it takes forever to find the right person.
Baby boomers, especially RINKS, should keep their eyes and ears open when socializing. I have no personal experience of having shared housing before but I believe that it works best if everyone is upfront about their needs and expectations.
I don't expect to need co-housing for hopefully another decade or two but when I do, I am looking for someone who likes ballroom dancing so we can enjoy going to the dances together.
We would like to get to know folks like ourselves who enjoy driving tours and perhaps we can plan a trip together to go up north either this summer or maybe next summer, whichever is preferred.
Let's Us Help One Another
I am sure that there are many topics of interest to baby boomers. You can gain invaluable insight by interacting with those who have been through the hard times and survived to share their experiences.
Please feel to contact Margaret if you wish to bring up an issue for discussion. I just set up a Facebook group called " Baby Boomers Network " for folks who would like to actively pursue how we can network together. The web address is facebook.com/groups/BabyBoomers888 Please join us and start posting so we can get an active group going.