Even as a late Boomer, I never adopted the anything-goes mentality my fellow Boomers have. "Buy now, pay later" has turned into "Buy now, pay maybe." Is it any wonder that all the advertisements egg people on to buy things they "deserve" because "they want it and owe it to themselves?" Deserve? Since when is anyone deserving of anything because they want it and can't have it? As for the savings numbers, I think they have been very much understated for the last 25 or so years because people have been encouraged to invest in the stock market through their 401ks and IRAs. These numbers do not show up as savings. There is no denying that household debt is at an all-time high, encouraged by the buy-it-now attitude, the house ATM and loose credit.

Hello:

I agree with Jimmy37.  You need to be careful re savings statistics, how they handle 401(K) money.  Some forms of record keeping count that as deferred income, and not as savings rate.  It's a huge pool of money

In the late nineties, I encountered John de Graaf director of the PBS "Affluenza" series, speaking at a financial planning event.  He and his show were claiming that America THEN had a negative savings rate.  I asked how they accounted for the 401(K) money.  And--HE DIDN"T KNOW.

rgds.,

Doug Widney

San Francisco

 1. Alan Greenspan reduces the fed rate below the rate of inflation (and keeps it there), penalizing U.S. savers, and rewarding spenders. Alan Greenspan, who suggested that rising house prices was some sort of savings- geez- pinch me real hard.  Alan Greenspan decidedly not a Boomer.

 2. Bush 1, Clinton, Bush 2 and their comrads in Congress that snuggled up to China after being lobbied by Chinese Wallmart and others, thereby shipping good paying U.S. jobs overseas. Let's see, the result of that deal is a 10 to 1 trade imbalance, the largest economy in the world is a trillion dollar debtor to China, and when the U.S. government says let the Chinese renminbi rise to it's real market value, China sticks it's thumb in the Uncle Sam's eye.  The old crooks are paid off, and the boomers lose.  Bush 1, Clinton, Bush 2- not Boomers.

 3. Congress kills even the minimum regulation on Wall Street so that their old crooked friends on Wall Street can run an unregulated casino.  Federal legislation specifically prohibits state governments from charging any of their crooked friends with gaming. The financial house of cards collapses and the bill is sent to the Boomers. Congress and their crooked lobbyist friends- mostly not Boomers.

 4. Bush 2 who said "America is addicted to Oil."  Then he sticks the needle back in Uncle Sam's arm.  Bush 2- not a Boomer.

    Bush 2, Congress and the so-called conservatives spent money like drunken sailors  ( my apologies to drunken sailors). They lied unashamedly as they wasted $5 trillion dollars, then gave the bill to the Boomers and their children to pay.

 No, you can blame the Boomers for a lot, but this economy has nothing to do with generational differences and everything to do with larceny.  The crooks at the Wallstreet Casino, and the businesses that pretended to be American, while they shipped jobs and futures overseas, have fleeced the American public, aided and abetted by their paid-for political friends, who provided cover through the political "Big Lie" that would make Joseph Goebbels proud.

 Wake up America. If it's too big to fail, it's too big. Period.

Kevin Em

I find this article to be somewhat entertaining — I think they may have pinpointed the wrong age group.

I am within that “Baby Boomer” age group; yet want I have lived is very different than that being represented.

My grandparents and those I knew from their generation, scrimped and saved constantly; of course, living through the depression era, one would expect that.

My parents and those I knew from their generation, were “Spend thrifts,” money went through their hands like water.  They could never save a dime; were always in debt.  They would constantly take trips & go out to eat rather they could afford it or not; and if someone was selling it they would buy it.  

My husband and I and our peers, struggled to lived within our means; we barely earned enough to afford the basics; food, clothing, shelter, transportation, and insurance.  There was nothing leftover after paying for the necessities to save.  — So, we did not save; but at the same time, we also did not go into debt.

My children and their peers are behaving very much like my parents did.  They buy every gadget sold on the market and they spend their paycheck long before they receive it.  

Somewhat proving that grandparents influence a child’s life more so than parents do — especially, when grandparents are willing to go into debt to spoil the grandchildren rotten.

I think most of us were raised with a very "rose colored glasses" view of the world. Our parents (and god bless them retired now for 20 plus years at the governments expence) gave us the message that the world was perfect. We never discussed much of anything let alone financial matters. There was a "Leave it to Beaver" mentality still left over from the 50's as well. Of course everyone had to keep the picture perfect. Any indication of dysfunction of any kind was always swept under the rug. The pressure to keep the perfect picture a float was left to our generation. Many of us, unlike our parents choose to be more open minded and of course we paid the price. If we couldn't really have the perfect life we could pretend, and so we did.

go stuff it.i'm a boomer and have been in poverty since reagan no credit did i want.at least i'm free of debt.debt IS slavery!

jeepangel,

Exactly!

I hated that "Pretense" of the perfect life -- I rebelled and refused to do as my parents did.  -- "So what if life wasn't perfect; at least I wasn't drowning in debt."

Now, my parents are retired, still in debt up to their rear-ends and trying to manage off of S.S.

However, I am debt free with both a house & car fully paid for -- simply accomplished by living within my means and learning the difference between a "Want" and a "Need."

I think this is satirical also. Everyone has lived beyond their means if they've used revolving credit. My family is in (very) minor credit card debt and we have a mortgage that is way below the actual value of the house. We are trying very hard to teach our children the value of a buck - that's $1.00 for those of you from Rio Linda. We capitalized on the zero percent car loan program from GM which may have saved a job for someone in Michigan/Michoacan. A lot of times if you can put off the initial urge to use the plastic you realize you don't actually need the item you wanted to acquire. I use acquire as opposed to purchase because until it's actually paid for (by you) it's only another object of desire. Be Palintologists - try to be responsible, go to work, spend more time with your kids and get to know your neighbors. That is my model and it's working for me. If it'll help you please feel free to try it. Make adjustments as necessary and I'll meet you at the Happy Destiny.

It seems as though we have discredited their theory — Baby Boomers are not the shallowest generation.

Shallowness is an attitude one obtains through the experiences & environment one is raised with — which is not dictated by an era or generation; yet in spite of.

As usual, 3% of the wrongdoers make the other 97% look bad.  Most of the crooked scumbags that have been deregulating and then raping the economy since the savings and loans scandals right on through to this one are within the age limits defined by Baby Boomers, I'm sure, but they represent a small portion.  Like the fact that 3-5% of doctors make 95% of medical mistakes, these crooked evil bastards are being lumped in with a whole generation when they really deserve their own special place in a very painful Hell.  Greed isn't anything new.  I think Kevin Em makes a lot of good points.