Baby Boomer Insights

Warning! Retire too soon and you may outlive your savings!

If you're planning to retire, yet still maintain your current lifestyle, you may want to rethink that strategy, based on the results of a new study released this week. According to Ernst & Young, Boomers need to get a better grip on reality. Few will be able to live in retirement like they do today without depleting their savings completely.

You can read the details of the study here from Sunday's Washington Post. Here's the net, net: longer life spans plus poor saving habits plus the lack of a robust employee pension plan equals potential disaster. According to this study, commissioned by Americans for Secure Retirement, the average middle-class Boomer now retiring will have to cut back on his/her standard of living by 24 percent. Boomers who plan to retire in seven years should plan a 37 percent cutback in spending.

Several potential solutions are offered (none of which work alone). But the most intriguing to me is the notion that Congress can help fix the problem. The ASR coalition recommends that Boomers buy annuities (essentially, an investment made now that provides you with an income beyond Social Security in retirement). To stimulate this strategy, they want Congress to pass legislation that would make annuities easier to obtain and reduce the tax burden at payout time. ASR suggests taxes be eliminated completely on 50 percent of the annuity payout, up to $20,000 per year. (BTW, many ASR members are insurance companies that sell annuities.)

I personally think annuities are a great option and Lord knows I'm all for reducing my tax liability at every turn, but it seems to me this solution won't affect enough Boomers for it to make a significant dent. After all, the "mass affluent" - Boomers who have $100k+ to invest - make up only 30 percent of the Boomer population. Some 67 percent have less than $100k to invest, according to Forrester. So while a legislative solution on the surface seems to be a good one, I'm suggesting it's only a piece of the puzzle and shouldn't be viewed as, "That's the ticket!"

For instance, what the study doesn't take into account is that a majority of Boomers don't intend to retire at the standard retirement age of 62; instead, they plan to work several more years, perhaps by re-careering completely or by working part-time. I don't know about you, but I don't have a single retired friend who hasn't cut back on his/her lifestyle or standard of living once they retired. Moreover, most prepared for their retirement by gradually cutting back their lifestyles.

Here's what marketers need to take away from this: Boomers first and foremost want control. So if you have a financial service or product to offer them, especially in their pre-retirement and retirement years, you need to be able to show them how it will help them gain control over their destinies.

Don't try scare tactics such as "You're in danger of outliving your savings!" It turns them off. Instead, evoke a positive emotion and response by guiding them to a proactive solution. Leave the OMG-style headlines to the guys who are trying to sell more newspapers. 

Is your Boomer marketing boat about to run aground?

Ralph and I were on the boat riding around Lake Sinclair yesterday when I was suddenly reminded of just how marketers find themselves wondering how they "missed the boat" when it comes to Boomers.

We were on a part of the lake we've been to countless times, which just makes this story all the more embarrassing. We saw a cove where four new houses have recently been completed and put up for sale. So we headed toward them full speed ahead. Suddenly, the boat made an awful noise and nearly stopped cold. Turns out we had run up on a sandbar. We managed to get off safely with no major damage, except his bruised ego.

Well, $200 and a few hours later, Ralph had installed a new propeller and had a laugh over how he managed to chew up the other one.

So what's this have to do with marketing to Boomers? Everything. It's easy to run up on a sandbar when you're focusing just on the destination. In a boat, you have to pay attention to the depth finder, which lets you know if the water is deep enough to keep going. If Ralph had been watching the depth finder instead of the houses, he'd have noticed the severe drop in water depth.

That's the equivalent of what marketers often do when it comes to Boomers. They focus so much on the fact that there's a vast pool of 78 million of us, they forget that it's not as easy as just "aim in that direction" and you'll get what you want. Marketing to Boomers goes much deeper than that.

We know from the Edelman/Strategy One Boomer Insights and Implications Study, 2007, that some 28 percent of Boomers don't even identify with the term, so they've already self-selected OUT of the pool of 78 million. They might be the sandbar you run aground on your way to reaching the ones who are really your target.

Finding your brand's "Bull's Eye Boomer" (tm) is critical to ensuring you don't run aground. It takes research and patience, but it's worth doing before investing in a Boomer marketing strategy. It's simply not enough the say, "Our target is women 50+." Really?

Two 50-year-old women could be as different as night and day. I'm a great example of that. I have a twin sister. We're 51 and couldn't be more different. I live in a city, she's in rural Georgia. My kids are 22 and 18, one a college graduate, the other a college sophomore. Her three children are 32, 22, and 21. And she has three grandchildren. She's a nurse. I have no patience for patients. I read all the time, love to blog and have to have the latest gadget. She's prefers to watch TV and is happy with a working cell phone.Get the picture? We're only 15 minutes apart in age (I"m the oldest - she has always told people I got out with the brains and she stayed behind for the looks!) but we clearly have very different lifestyles and interact with brands in very different ways.

On the surface, my sister and I are like those new houses in the distance (well, actually more like worn cottages). It may seem all you have to do is aim for us all standing side by side and call it a day. But let me just caution you that you could also find yourself grinding to a halt before you get to shore if you aren't careful.

Boomer Pierce Brosnan finds mid-life liberating: out of the tux and into the spandex

When I picked up the paper from the driveway the morning, one of the first things I noticed was a promo for today's Parade Magazine. It said Pierce Brosnan had been dumped as James Bond, agent 007 for being "too old."

"That can't be!" I declared to myself. "He's not much older than I am!" (Just as quickly, I felt ashamed for thinking that I could see why a 50-something Bond woman probably wouldn't do, but that was different.) How is it possible Pierce Brosnan, at 55, is too old to play Bond? As far as I'm concerned, he's just getting old enough. I had always assumed he decided to quit playing Bond because he tired of the role.

Anyway, I made my way to the article on Brosnan, whom I consider one of the most handsome men in Hollywood. I've had a crush on him since he was Remington Steele in the 80's. Sure enough, there was his gorgeous face on the cover of Parade, and on the inside was an article in which he described his shock and disappointment over being told the Bond movie roles were going to a younger man, Daniel Craig. (BTW, I saw Craig as Bond and he didn't even come close to filling those big shoes, in my opinion. "Bond, James Bond," just shouldn't come from the mouth of a blond surfer dude.)

It's the rest of the article that bears the most attention, though. Brosnan talks about his willingness to try something different, to get out of the tuxedo and into bad clothes and platform shoes to play a role in the upcoming film version of Mama Mia! He sings! He dances! He acts goofy! And he loved doing it.

"You have to be able to make fun of your own dignity. You've got to let the movie make fun of your dignity. To let it rip is brilliantly exhilarating," declares Brosnan.

He's onto something. Research shows that Boomers like Brosnan are willing to try new things, seek adventure and not care much about what other people think. After all, according to the Edelman/Strategy One Boomer Insights Study, boomers don't even think someone is old until they're 74. And 75 percent of them feel no pressure to be or act a certain way. Another 88 percent said that doing new things "makes me feel good about myself."

Despite the fact that Mama Mia! is based on the music of ABBA, I'll go see it, just to see Brosnan in this unexpected role.

Meanwhile, I'd love to know if you boomers agree with Brosnan that mid-life is very liberating and something to be celebrated?

Sex and the City movie furthers the notion that gray is the new black

My almost-19-year-old daughter, Sydney, and I went to see the Sex and the City movie last night. When it was a TV series I watched it only on occasion and was never a big fan. But I knew it would be all the rage at the water cooler this week and I wanted to know enough to talk about it.

The first observation I made was that the audience was 90% boomer women. They clapped, laughed heartily, and squealed like the delighted girlfriends they were. Clearly, this crowd loved catching up on the foursome that made TV history talking about things women supposedly really talk about when they're together, out of the earshot of men.

While it was incredibly predictable, even to someone not intimately familiar with the characters, I found it pretty enjoyable nonetheless. I liked that three of the four women characters - Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte are in their 40s  - and Samantha is 50, yet they were portrayed as still stylish, full of life and still interested in talking to death various angles of relationships. The underlying theme of the movie was about forgiveness, something one typically understands and knows more about in her 40s and 50s, for sure. I loved that the actresses were playing their "real" ages and it seemed perfectly natural for them to have many of the same interests in "mid-life" as they did in their 20s and 30s.

In a way, this movie is a continuation of the "gray as the new black" phenomenon we've seen sweeping the country recently. From  "Cougars 4 Cook" on American Idol, to Dancing With the Stars having a devoted boomer audience, to the top three movies featuring "mature" actors (Harrison Ford in the new Indiana Jones movie, Robert Downey Jr. in "IronMan") Boomers are redefining what makes good pop culture. Just as we wanted all the focus on us when we were twenty-something, now we want it on us despite having a little gray around the temples.

Even Neil Diamond has made a big comeback after appearing on American Idol recently. (BTW, I got his new album for Mothers Day and just love it!) And Lord knows we're not done yet hearing all about Madonna turning 50 this year. In other words, Boomers are showing up everywhere, even in places traditionally thought to belong to the "young people."

(It says something, dontcha think when you have to insert a twenty-something star like Jennifer Hudson into the Sex and the City movie to help make it more relevant for that age group!)

Advertisers and marketers need to pay attention because Boomers are in the drivers' seat again, proclaiming what they believe is sexy and sellable. We see ourselves as younger than we really are and we want to remain vital (not necessarily young) for a long time yet, so we'll plop down our dollars if we believe you embrace us.

International Mature Marketing Network (IMMN) offers global perspective on boomers

Today at the JWTBoom LiveWire conference I spent some time chatting at the IMMN booth. Besides making a great tongue-twister (say I-M-M-N five times fast), it’s an interesting group. Here’s a tip – it’s actually pronounced “I’m in.”

IMMN stands for International Mature Marketing Network. It was “created as a forum for like-minded marketers to grow professionally by sharing ideas, insights and best practices, keeping up with hot topics about mature consumers.”

Besides really understanding the marketplace for the 40+ group, they’re a fun bunch too. When was the last time you went into a booth where they were giving away things that really remind you of your childhood: slinky, red wax lips (they still taste awful, btw), play-dough, silly putty, candy necklaces and bubble-gum cigars?

Several well known companies are already members of IMMN, including Edelman, JWTBoom, ThirdGear, Agelessons, immersion Active, Evergreen, TrendSight, Generation Woodstock, 20Plus30, Millennium, Creating Results, and McDill Associates.

 Additionally, a lot of great speakers and authors belong to IMMN as well. Already, IMMN has a significant presence in Europe, where, for over a decade, it has been advising companies on how to reach the 40+ market. That means IMMN can help companies on a global basis because they understand the nuances of geography, which can affect how branding campaigns are done around the world.

Members of IMMN ($1250 a year for corporations; $600 a year for individuals) not only get access to great marketing minds, but to monthly webinars on the latest trends and best practices. Research and white papers, IMMN/Circus Magazine and LiveWire Magazine are included as well.

As you know, though, the greatest benefit to belonging to an organization of "like minds" is the tremendous networking opportunities. And from what I can tell watching conference attendees, that’s something all marketers are looking for!