THE BABY BOOMERS ARE HERE

The oldest of the 77 million Baby Boomers turned 59 1/2 on July 1st.  They can retire without a penalty.  They can also  start to have more time to volunteer and donate towards major and planned gifts.

Michael Finke, assistant professor of personal financial planning at the University of Missouri, my old school, researched some facts on these boomers that are surprising. He found that they have greater average wealth than pre-boomers did at the same age.  In addition, they have no more debt than the previous generation. But they have far more money invested in stock market than the previous generation

While they have substantial amounts locked up in their retirement plans, that’s passive investing and they don’t always account  for it when evaluating their finances. That is way they don’t get a lot of financial respest.  They often don’t know just how well off they are.

A charitable gift annuity would be grand for the oldest of this group. If they plan to retire in 5 years, a deferred charitable gift annuity would do the trick. Legacies, volunteerism and major gifts might work well too. 

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