By Julie E 
Photo credit ( Greety Image )
It’s evident that the Baby Boomer generation that will reach 60 in 2024 has experienced a significantly different reality than those of the previous generation. These tail-end Boomers, who were born in 1964, did not have the same financial advantages as their forebears. In addition to taking care of their elderly parents and assisting their children in securing financial stability in an increasingly unpredictable environment, they are juggling the rapidly rising real estate markets that have enriched older boomers.
Boomers, but minus the benefits If you were born in North America in 1964, your parents probably enjoyed the advantages of a robust economy, such as reasonably priced housing, substantial pensions, and well-equipped public schools. But things had changed by the time these Baby Boomers at the end of the generation reached adulthood. Wages stagnated, job markets were oversaturated, and the recession struck hard.
“I’m fundamentally a Gen-Xer” There are plenty of tail-end Boomers who don’t identify as such. Joey Dong, a North Vancouver resident who will turn 60 this year, identifies as a member of Generation X. “I don’t feel aging. I’m still planning the next 20 years to be the best yet, riding my bike 50 to 100 kilometers a day, and maintaining my culinary blog. His perspective is more in line with the work ethic of Generation X than it is with the luxurious retirement plans of previous Baby Boomers.
Despite being born in 1961, Douglas Coupland, the man who came up with the moniker “Generation X,” shied away from Boomers. In writing, he spoke for many who thought they didn’t fit into the stereotypical Boomer mold when he said, “I had to invent my way out of the Baby Boomer classification.”
battling in a world that has changed Demographer David Foot claims that tail-end Boomers attended overcrowded schools, became adults during recessions, and made a lot less money than their parents. Boomers’ “golden years” did not include the class of 1964.
Joey Dong, like many other members of this “edge” generation, went to entrepreneurship in order to forge his own way. He states, “You can’t rely on anyone else,” expressing the Generation X mentality of independence.
Tail-end winding up, not down. Boomers aren’t slowing down, especially the younger ones without the pensions and property gains of the older ones. One such example is Jodi Derkson, a North Vancouver on-call instructor. Now sixty years old, she is returning to school to get a master’s in counseling and is preparing to start a new profession. She says, “I have to wind up,” so she is. Jodi, like many of her contemporaries, is concentrating on being independent and creative as she moves into the next stage of her life.
Her group shares a common entrepreneurial mentality. A U.S. poll indicates that 41 percent of small business and franchise owners are late Boomers. The sixty-year-old artist Cheryl Painter claims that growing up in a tail-end Boomer generation gave her the freedom to explore and develop her creative abilities, which she developed while co-owning a chocolate shop with her husband.
a worry for the future generation Boomers who were born in 1964 are grateful for their strong, independent upbringing, but they also know that the world their children will grow up in is far harsher. For instance, affordable housing is very different from the rental markets Painter is familiar with from her twenties. She is currently concerned about her children, who are 21 and 23 years old and are having difficulty establishing themselves.
The accounting for the environment An enormous weight is the environmental problem on the backs of many Baby Boomers. The 60-year-old fundraising strategist Marcia Thomson remarks, “It’s unbelievable that we’ve known about climate science for so long and done so little.” She refuses to place the blame on a whole generation, but she yet feels the effects of Boomer-era policies. Instead, as she approaches her sixties, she is embracing community service and hope.
a feeling of immediacy Between Boomers and Gen-Xers, this generation on the “edge” frequently feels compelled to seize the opportunities presented by the years ahead. Environmental consultant Michael Harstone, sixty, thinks turning sixty has been a significant turning point in his life. He muses, “There’s a timeline now.” As a lifetime outdoor enthusiast, Harstone is organizing a bicycling vacation in the French Alps to commemorate his 60th birthday, all the while keeping his attention on how he might support his teenage sons in navigating a world that seems far more difficult than his own.
The youngest Boomers are reinventing aging as they approach 60, fusing the tenacity of Gen-X with the life lessons from their Boomer forebears. They are demonstrating, in many respects, that they may be the best of both worlds.