Tomorrowville
Forget the cruise to forever and decades of shuffleboard. The new retirees want family, health, wealth, great culture and doctors within walking distance. And, they want it now.
By Pamela Martineau | From October 2007
Community Comments
“You could be solidly middle class at 65, and if you start to incur health costs, you could easily slip out of the middle class,” says Rosenbloom.
There will be some boomers, though, who won’t run such a high risk of bankruptcy if they become ill — those with public pensions and lifetime health benefits. The Sacramento region is home to a high percentage of public pensioners with its proximity to the state Capitol and its accompanying government jobs, as well as one of the highest concentrations of military retirees in the nation.
Will there be a tension between the public-pensioned retirees and the private-worker retirees? Veto says it’s possible, but boomers shouldn’t count their public pension money too soon.
Public pensions could be vulnerable to evaporation just as private pensions have been. “There’s no reason to think that they are any more viable than the private-sector pensions,” Veto warns.
And what about generations X and Y who will still be working and paying into the Social Security system to fund the boomer retirement? Will they harbor resentment about funding their parents’ lifestyles? Can they dream of having an equally fulfilling retirement?
“I give them the same advice I give the boomers — they have to prepare for it now,” says Veto. And not just through savings, he adds, but through thinking of what part-time jobs they may want when they cut back their workweek in semi-retirement.
Perhaps the multigenerational living arrangements and job sharing with younger workers will blunt some of the potential resentment. At any rate, it’s clear the so-called retirees of Tomorrowville will remain “out there” in society, highly visible, like the boomer generation always has been, redefining social connections and what it means to age.
“The last thing they want to do is run off to Florida and segregate themselves and go on the cruise to nowhere forever,” says Zey.
Part 2 in our series on defining Tomorrowville continues in our November issue.
Prosperity Icon: Mind
Category: Retirement
Tags: living, senior, tomorrowville, retire
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Community Comments
October 02, 2007
For us, it came down to lifestyle. We found our piece of paradise. We now live where others vacation. Mild temps, fresh air, less traffic, low crime. Public transit is free, the state parks are free, the library is open seven days a week.
We have the requisite requirements of civilization: Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Home Depot, supermarkets and fast food. Along with forests, pastoral valleys and lonely back roads.
No, I’m not telling you where I live. I don’t want you to move here. I’ll share my photos, though, at www.eyepubs.com. Take a look, and you’ll see what I see every day.