Savings

There are a group of people who maybe worrying a fair bit about their retirement. What with the gloomy forecasts that are bandied around through various types of media: we are in the full throes of a recession; the credit crisis will not resolve itself for at least 20 years; the banks are hemorrhaging our money and all the other financial horror stories we are bombarded with on a daily basis.

Who is this group of people living in fear of their future retirement? It is the baby boomers of course, those people who were born following WWII and up until the mid 1960's. A significant proportion of the people born within the baby boomers generation are still in employment, chained to their jobs and living from pay-check to pay-check.

With an unprecedented number of people in the baby boom generation fast approaching the age of retirement, many economists and other financial bodies have voiced their concerns about a savings potential and imminent 'retirement crisis'- is this problem going to become the next media scare? It seems more than likely, and people in the baby boom generation should brace themselves for the barrage of fear that will be levied in their direction by the media industry. The baby boom generation will be forced to ask itself the following questions: Will we ever be able to retire? Who is going to look after our financial stability? People can no longer expect to work for the same company for 30 years and receive the proverbial 'gold watch' at the end of their years in service.

However, despite these fears, there is a growing trend that is seeing more and more of the baby boom generation retiring before the pensionable age of 65. It is forecast that such individuals are relying less on social security provisions, but more on investments, pension plans and the equity wrapped up in their homes in order to survive, and this is very different to the previous generation, who effectively created the welfare state and came to rely heavily on social assistance during their old age.

With the baby boomer generation entering their autumn years, the number of senior citizens in many countries worldwide is set to increase, including in Ireland, giving rise to fears that the government will be unable to assist all these individuals to any meaningful financial degree.

But the time to panic is not nigh, many steps can be taken to ensure that that this generation is well looked after during their old age. Although a large number of such people now feel themselves to be in a position that means they have to catch up with their peers in order to achieve a financially secure retirement, such prospects are not beyond reach. Many are searching for financial strategies that they can employ straightaway in order to give themselves a fighting chance, such as starting contributions in an Irish pension plan, if they have not yet done so already.