Whither the baby-boomers?

It is the largest demographic group to work its way through our society in US history.  It includes Americans born after WWII, from 1946 to 1964, an estimated 76 million people in the US alone.  Other countries experienced a similar boom after the War. 

As this major group works its way toward retirement, it will send shockwaves through Social Security and Medicare systems.  Boomers will live longer and healthier lives placing greater financial stress on a system that was projecting problems even in a healthy economy.  A major question looms: will the social safety net be strong enough to withstand their sheer weight? 

Perhaps one way to lessen burden is for boomers to work a little longer.  After all, the 65 retirement age is based upon Germany's Otto Von Bismarck's decree in the 1880's when work was truly labor intensive.  I believe things have changed a bit since Bismarck's decree some 130 years ago.  Like the 9-month school year, based upon when we were an agrarian society, the 65 retirement age is an anachronism our society continues to honor as the norm.  At least the 1984 Social Security Commission brought some semblance of modernity into the mix by adjusting the retirement age to 68.  But, this is much too little for such a large problem.

Back to the boomers working longer.  There are many jobs in our nation's retail and fast food establishments that could use the wisdom, self confidence, and maturity of a boomer.  I am often amazed as to why so many retailers hire and deploy introverts to work the registers.  These cashiers are the last person a customer encounters before leaving the store.  They are the face and voice of the retailer.  Shouldn't that encounter be warm, pleasant, and such that the customer wants to return for another visit?  Often times, my experience has been that I felt like a burden to the cashier -- not even a "hello" or "thank you".  This shouldn't be!!

If I was a retail owner, I would not want that impression to be what my customers leave with.  Rather, it would be good business to hire an extroverted boomer who makes the customers feel appreciated and glad they came in.  Our current generation which relies on social networking, computers, cell phones, and texting does not bode well for the cashier of tomorrow.  I may just resort to on-line retailing as much as possible rather than dealing with someone lacking interpersonal skills.  Call me old-fashioned but I like feeling appreciated at the establishment where I spend my hard-earned and highly-taxed income.   

So, I recommend hiring the boomer, pay them a good wage, and offer some form of health insurance to offset the increasing healthcare costs not covered by Medicare.  To me, this is a classic win-win.   Unfortunately, I fear that our business inept and economically illiterate Congress has probably built so many disincentives into the current laws, this may not work out financially for some boomers. 

It goes back to what some scholars have long said:  the major problem with economics is politics.  Thanks to ill-conceived policies and political machinations since the Great Depression, the chickens will be coming home to roost sooner than later and right smack in the middle of the Baby Boomers.