How Much is Enough?

As I wrote that headline, I was thinking about Boomers and finances. But it occured to me that it's an appropriate thought for the week. Boston is still digging out of a couple of big snowstorms and we're all asking: isn't this enough? It's more than enough and it's only January!

However, I'm supposed to be writing about money. My husband Mark, the financial whiz in the family, has a few thoughts about how much money you'll need to last the rest of your life. His advice: take inventory, crunch the numbers, ask for help. And if you haven't saved and invested well, maybe think about working for quite a while!

Click here to hear a few words of advice. I hate to admit it, but I've learned that when it comes to finances, Mark is usually worth listening to!

Financial and Life Planning

If we Boomers are re-inventing life after 50, then we're probably going to re-invent financial planning. I think the emphasis will be on "life planning," as in "What do I want to be when I really grow up?" Or at least, what do I want to do with my time? What are my dreams and can I afford to live them?

If you're like me, you have lots of dreams - places to visit, languages to learn, gardens to cultivate, rooms to redecorate and workshops to attend. You'd probably like to help your loved ones (we have a daughter's wedding to pay for this year!) and give back to your community. Is there a way to do it all?

Even though my husband is a Certified Financial Planner, all of this is not a piece of cake! But Mark knows more than most, so I thought I'd ask him a few money questions. Here's what he had to say. (runs 3:15)

A Second Adolescence ?

Today we're posting our first audio and we're calling these brief conversations "Transition Talks." This week, I sat down to talk about being a Boomer with my husband and collaborator, Mark Mills. You can listen to us by clicking here for a 3:30 chat.

We thought about this as a "table setter" - an overview of the thoughts, feelings and themes that are on our minds and that prompted us to start this blog and to get involved with Boomer Media Properties.

Mark is a long-time broadcaster and you'll hear that in his voice. He's currently co-hosting a business talk show in Boston and filing financial and business reports for our local public radio station. Mark's also a Certified Financial Planner, so our next two installments will be about money...a subject that's on the minds of many Boomers today as we pay for our kids' college tuition, save for our future (retirement or rehirement??), finance a career change or think about selling (or buying) a home.

Tomorrow: Financial and Life Planning

Who is a Boomer?

I got an email from a 55 year old techie from Austin who asked if he's a Baby Boomer. I guess I should clarify!

The Baby Boom generation was born between 1946 and 1964, so the youngest Boomer turned 40 last year. Since the oldest are now 58, you can see that we cover a pretty big range of years on the planet - and probably interests.

Our Boomers! TV proposal is targeting the older Boomers, those of us over 50 who grew up with the Mickey Mouse Club and the Beatles as opposed to the Brady Bunch and disco. All the Boomers have a lot of values in common but life stage seems to make a difference. Turning 50 is a wake up call for a lot of us...it tells us that time is passing and if we've got dreams to pursue, it's now or never! And many of us have become Empty Nesters by then, or are about to.

On the other hand, a good friend of ours who is 53 just became a father for the first time this weekend. He and his wife had dealt with years of infertility and finally, they're parents! They're thrilled and we're thrilled for them. But he admits it's scary too and he wonders if he'll be able to fund college and retirement at the same time!

So leading edge Boomers are grandparents and new parents. There's a lot of diversity here but we're all blazing new trails as we re-invent aging in America!

Healing Art

One of the common themes of mid-life is aging parents- living with them and losing them. It's not an easy topic. The failing health and death of a parent brings us face-to-face with the fact that time is passing and things change, not always for the better. For us Boomers, it's a reminder that we won't be forever young.

Some artists in the Boston area decided to tackle this subject and have put together an exhibit called "The Certain Journey, Meditations on Lives Passing." My partner Bill and I visited the opening on Sunday at the Brickbottom Artists Gallery and did some videotaping with the artists and visitors. It was a powerful experience.

Lois Fiore, curator of the show, is in her fifties and takes care of her Mom, who's almost 90. Her paintings show the "push-pull" of wanting to care for an aging and beloved parent but resenting the time and energy it takes at the same time. Ted Prato's photos document the stages of his Mom's decline from Alzheimer's Disease. We see her childlike enjoyment of dressing up in sports outfits, evidence of the sense of humor that is often retained almost in defiance of the disease. Beverly Sky's collage tells the story of her parents through the artifacts of their every day life - the mortgage documents, recipes and other personal belongings of these survivors of the Holocaust who came from Poland to start a new life in New York City. Both of Beverly's parents died while she was putting this exhibit together.

The visitors to the Opening wanted to talk to the artists, to tell their stories about their own parents. They seemed grateful for the opportunity to share. It brought back memories for me of seeing my Mom go through 13 years of Alzheimer's Disease and seeing my Dad's health decline while he cared for her. I wasn't an "objective" reporter at this event.

We were all moved by the art and grateful to the artists for telling their stories so publically. They helped us to see that this is a universal experience...we're all in this together!

Why no "Comments"

If you're used to blogging, you might wonder why we haven't turned on the "Comments" function. It's not that we don't want to hear from you...we do! In fact, that's the real reason for this blog...hearing from other Baby Boomers.

But my friend and advisor Dan Bricklin warned me about spam. Since I'm new to blogging and not able to control the kind of feedback that might show up here, we decided to ask for comments only in email. Later, when I get used to all of this, we'll turn Comments on.

So please do comment! Just send it to our feedback email address. We'll share your thoughts here. Thanks!

One Boomer's Journey

We've edited our first Boomer story. It's about Betsey, a professional woman who was very successful in her fifteen years as Vice President of Communications for the fund-raising arm of the University of Colorado. But like many other talented professionals, she got "downsized" along with about 40 colleagues in June of 2003.

Suddenly, Betsey found herself out of work, a single mother of a college junior with tuition and a mortgage to pay. Luckily, she got enough severance to allow her time to do some soul searching before jumping at the first job she found. She took a writing course, travelled a bit and did some long-delayed work on her home in Boulder. But soon it was time to get serious and figure out what was next. And to make a lot of changes in her life.

Here's the link to Betsey's story (a video). She's articulate about the feelings that many Baby Boomers experience when dealing with career issues over 50. And we love her sense of humor and resiliance!

http://www.stream-video.net/boomers/abundance-preview.htm

Abundance bowl, anyone?

Boomers and the Media

We're in business! We've named our company Boomers Media Properties. We've incorporated and reserved a domain name and started this blog…so it's all starting to feel very real. We're raising money for our TV series and we’re still figuring out our business model. We’re trying something new here and it’s fun and scary at the same time!

What's really surprising to us is the lack of any quality television programming for Boomers right now. There's nothing out there that reflects where we are in life. Nothing to help us figure out what's next as we go through so much change. Nothing about careers changing, families changing, sex lives changing, money issues changing. There are lots of home renovation shows and lots of cooking shows and lots of travel shows…but none of them look at these topics through the lens of Baby Boomers. So many of my friends are renovating their homes, cooking gourmet meals and traveling all over the world! They have money to spend and they're spending it! But they're not the targets of the TV programmers.

Why aren't there any shows for us? The simple answer is the advertisers aren't looking for the Boomer audience…Madison Avenue targets adults aged 18 to 45. Once you pass your 50th birthday, you become invisible to most ad agencies. Until you need dentures and adult diapers!

But the Boomers are changing that view, slowly. Toyota and Buick are realizing that Boomers buy cars for outdoor adventure and fun. Pillsbury is beginning to promote quick dinners for two for Empty Nesters. But if you look at beer commercials, you'd think no one over 40 ever drinks a beer! And what about the ads for iPods, clearly targeting young music fans? Lots of 40 and 50-somethings are buying them…when will ads target all the Boomers who are listening to music and podcasts on their iPods, iRivers and other portable audio players? Maybe we can help that happen as we produce more podcasts about Boomer issues!

We’ll be telling Boomer stories, here and on our website (when it’s ready). We’re hoping to create content that we would watch and listen to and that you find compelling. We want to hear your stories! We’ll be asking for feedback too. Stay tuned!

Why start this Boomer Blog?

I’m starting this blog because I’m an “old media” person making the transition to new media. I want to use the Internet as a way to by-pass the gatekeepers of traditional media and tell the stories of people like me who are facing transitions in their lives and doing it with grace and a sense of adventure.

Transition seems to be the operative word in my life these days. I feel I’ve entered a new phase of life that doesn’t have a name. I’m not young but I’m not old - and I won’t be old for maybe 20 or even 30 years if I’m lucky (and keep practicing my yoga). But I do have lots of questions. What is this time of life all about? What are the millions of other Baby Boomers just like me worried about? What excites them now? What dreams do they have and what are they doing about fulfilling them?

I’m part of that much-maligned Baby Boom generation that’s trying to figure out what it means to be getting older when we still feel young! Young and restless on the inside…a midlife Empty Nester on the outside! Some call it our “Second Adolescence.” The one thing I’m sure of is that my life is very different from my parents’ lives at this age. I think my generation will be creating new models and I want to hear what other Boomers are creating!

I’ve worked in network news and I’ve run a video production company. I joined an Internet start-up that raised venture funds only to have the funding pulled a few months later. I’ve created Flash movies for corporate clients. Now I’m hoping that the Internet is ready for those of us who are storytellers at heart.

A few of my media friends from network television days are now my business partners. We’re taking our curiosity about this time of life into the brave new media world. We’re reaching out to our peers for stories, wisdom and inspiration. Our goal is to create a community that is authentic and is safe for sharing.

We’re beginning our journey with this blog. We’re going to launch a website soon and plan to podcast our stories so that they can be heard at the listener’s convenience. We’re trying to get a TV series funded. We want to facilitate Boomer “meet-ups” a la Dean for America. (“Transition Talk” anyone?) We’ll ask for feedback and we’ll listen. We want to find Boomers who are finding ways to grow and to thrive at this time of life that has no name!
I will be sharing our journey here. I hope to hear about yours.