Now that the first Baby Boomers are thinking about retirement, entrepreneurs and state governments are thinking about how to cash in on the boomers’ massive spending power.
As we reported in the January 2006 issue of Trends, according to the Boomer Project, a marketing and research firm, American Baby Boomers control about $1 trillion in spending today, and that will grow to $2 trillion over the next four years.
During this year, the first wave of more than 3 million Baby Boomers will turn 60. By 2024, all of the 77 million Baby Boomers will be between the ages of 60 and 78.
Today’s 60-year-olds can expect to remain in reasonably good health and to live to an average age of 82.3 years, meaning they’re not ready for the nursing home.
And, 20 percent — or more than 15 million of them — are expected to move to a different state once they retire, according to an expert quoted in USA Today.
As they approach retirement, Boomers typically look south, where temperatures are warmer and homes are cheaper. And, according to USA Today, several states are now competing to provide the warmest welcome:
In Mississippi, the state is marketing 21 cities as attractive retirement communities for Baby Boomers.
In Texas, the state legislature approved a marketing campaign aimed at retiring Boomers.
In Georgia, the chamber of commerce in the town of Thomasville, which has less than 20,000 residents, has a staff member devoted to working with retired people and has started a program that rewards seniors for recruiting other seniors to move to the town.
In North Carolina, the town of Morganton is promoting itself at AARP conventions and it is advertising in magazines targeted at people of retirement age.
In Florida, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports that state officials believe the state’s housing market will continue to thrive as Boomers retire to the Sunshine State.
In the year ending July 1, 2005, according to the U.S. Census, the five states that received the greatest number of “domestic migrants” — that is, people moving from one state to another — were Arizona, North Carolina, Nevada, Florida, and Texas.
According to a Money magazine report called “The Best Places to Retire,” the 10 cities with the fastest growth in...
