This year, 2006, represents a major milestone for the 78 million baby boomers in the U.S. as the first wave of “boomers” turns age 60. Two years from now—in 2008—these individuals will qualify for Social Security’s early retirement benefits and three years after that—in 2011—this initial wave will attain age 65 and become eligible for Medicare. This initial cohort will be followed, annually, by 18 additional waves of baby boomers reaching similar milestones, with the last of the individuals born in the 1946-1964 period reaching age 60 in 2024.

Baby boomers and succeeding generations face a somewhat daunting task in planning for their financial future especially as it relates to retirement. Many of these individuals will face retirement with no guaranteed monthly income, or with a substantially reduced amount, coming from their employers due to multiple job changes or as the result of an employer’s decision to terminate or “freeze” an existing defined benefit pension plan. Further, while benefiting from an increased life expectancy, many of these same individuals also will likely be confronted with high medical costs and long-term care costs at a time when many employers are implementing major cutbacks in their retiree medical expense plans and Medicare is experiencing significant financial pressures of its own. Given these trends, together with the projected future deficits under Social Security, it is clear that baby boomers and successive generations need to exercise greater individual responsibility in seeing that their retirement income objectives are achieved.