Here comes the “silver tsunami”… Sun-hat sellers: seize your moment. US retirements are set to break records this year. About 11K Americans will turn 65 every day (4.1M over the full year), joining the 44% of boomers already at retirement age. Known as “peak 65,” the trend’ll hold steady through 2027. And it’s expected to create big issues for the labor force — and lots of retirees too.
Aging offices: Since the 1980s, the percentage of workers 60+ has doubled, and the share of workers under 40 has fallen from 60% to 45%.
Mass retirement could be especially problematic for certain industries: more than half of pilots will reach their mandatory retirement age (65) in the next 15 years; a quarter of the manufacturing workforce is 55+; and the average age of US car dealers is 72.
Retirement cliff: Americans 65+ hold more than half of the US’s wealth, but that doesn’t mean it's evenly distributed. 43% of 55- to 64-year-olds had no retirement savings at all in 2022. And 17M people 65+ are economically insecure.
Hold on to your desks… Rather than risk retiring without enough cash, a lot of baby boomers have opted to forgo R&R for PTO. Nearly 1 in 5 Americans age 65+ was employed last year, up from just 1 in 10 in 1987. One explanation: the average 401(k) balance dropped by 20% in 2022, according to Fidelity. Worldwide, 150M jobs will shift to workers 55+ by the end of the decade.
The Sandwich Generation will pay… As retiree #s climb, so does the # of Americans caring for both their parents and their children — aka the sandwich generation. About 1 in 4 US adults supports a parent who’s 65+ as well as a child. Straining the situation: US debt is at record highs and — without congressional action — Social Security is on track to be depleted by 2033.