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In the United States, a baby boomer refers to anyone born during the high-birth-rate years of the postwar period, generally defined as 1946 through 1964. This 19-year time-span encompasses an extremely diverse population of 76 million. Nevertheless, certain characteristics of the baby boomer can be identified. The baby boomer remembers neither Word War II nor a time without TV, but experienced the social upheavals of the Sixties as a young person. As the baby boomer moves into retirement age, industries that cater to this cohort should expand rapidly; these range from gaming to for-profit education. Some observers believe that, as the baby boomer retires, stock markets will decline because funds dedicated to investment will instead be used for household needs. Other analysts, however, suggest that because the baby boomer tends to be a conservative investor with a high savings rate, and because the baby boomer often wants to continue working, equity prices will not suffer from the now-elderly baby boomer. |
