The Baby Boomers Turn 65

Retirement is a distant dream for many, while some boomers have been retired for years

December 20, 2010 RSS Feed Print

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Other baby boomers plan to delay their Social Security start date as long as possible to lock in higher payments later on in retirement. Colletti doesn't intend to collect her Social Security benefits until age 70. "Waiting until then is another couple hundred dollars a month," she says. Social Security payouts increase for each year you delay your start date up until age 70, after which there is no additional incentive to delay claiming.

[See 11 Retirement Resolutions for 2011.]

Some baby boomers want to continue working, but have more control over their schedule and the projects they select. "Having Medicare insurance, taking Social Security, and having some other sources of income gives them greater economic freedom to take work that doesn't pay as well as it needed to previously," says Marc Freedman, founder and CEO of Civic Ventures and author of the upcoming book, The Big Shift: Navigating the New Stage between Midlife and Old Age. "That support gives people greater freedom to have a range of options and flexibility in the kind of work that they do."

Many individuals approaching retirement are also interested in giving back to the community that supported them throughout their life. "I've worked toward the goal of what I do for a living all my life and it is all coming together and I don't want to retire," says Andrew Seybold of Santa Barbara, Calif., who turns 65 in January. Seybold runs his own mobile wireless industry consulting business, but is beginning to scale back his paid projects and now donates about 50 percent of his working hours to gratis public safety communications projects. "I travel a lot, so it's not like I am going to retire and go see the world. I have already seen the world or a lot of it," says Seybold. "I don't feel 65. It's not a milestone for me. I feel like I am in my 40s."

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It's difficult to paint an accurate picture of American's economic outlook for the future because no one wants to address one very obvious fact: We have at least 12 million illegals in this country, they are undocumented, unaccounted for and they sap our Health, Education and Welfare system. How does that figure into the economic equation? Americans are supporting this underclass who are not even here legally.

Donna Laino of TX 4:03PM September 20, 2011

It says in the article...
"Those who delay Medicare enrollment because they are still working and covered by a group health insurance plan must sign up within eight months after their coverage ends to avoid the penalty."
Also, my mother, who is 69 is still working and covered by a group policy so she is not eligible for Medicare yet. I just spoke with her and that is what she told me.

Kim of TX 3:15PM April 22, 2011

I AM SO CONFUSED ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT I SHOULD TAKE MEDICARE PART B. EVERYONE I SPEAK TO TELL ME ANOTHER STORY. I WAS TOLD THAT I COULD KEEP MY OXFORD PLAN EVEN THOUGH IT'S SMALL GROUP (5 PEOPLE). I HEARD THAT OXFORD IS ONE OF THOSE COMPANIED THAT DOES NOT REQUIRE YOU TO OPT INTO PART B. I KNOW ABOUT PART A BECOMING PRIMARY FOR HOSPITAL ONLY. CAN SOMEONE SHSED SOME LIGH ON THIS FOR ME. CAN OXFORD REMAIN MY PRIMARY UNTIL I RETIRE OR LOSE BENEFITS.

MARCY MARTIN of NY 3:19PM April 19, 2011