Boomers In Retirement: The Greatest Giving Generation?

Boomers In Retirement: The Greatest Giving Generation?Watch with money One retirement study after another trumpets the boomers’ lack of saving for retirement and their need to work longer than previous generations. (Wells Fargo today said the median savings of working Americans 60 or older is $50,000.) Call these the “Me Generation” retirement reports.

But what will boomers do for others during retirement? Will they become the Thee Generation?

Maybe so. A fascinating new study from Merrill Lynch and the Age Wave research firm ( Giving in Retirement: America’s Longevity Bonus ) predicts that boomer retirees potentially will give the equivalent of $8 trillion through charitable donations and volunteering over the next two decades. The longevity bonus is the demographers’ term for the population’s increased life expectancy.

If they’re right — and I have some qualms about the precise dollar estimate, which I’ll explain shortly — this will make boomers the greatest giving generation in U.S. history. What the […]

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