Boomer Consumer - A New Book for Marketing to Us!

by Nancy Fernandez Mills

Matt Thornhill has been sending out red alerts to corporate marketers for several years now. His message: You are failing to target 78 million consumers who have plenty of money and are willing to spend a lot of it! (Billions? Trillions?) Today, thanks to Matt and his colleagues like marketing gurus Brent Green and Marti Barletta, some companies are beginning to figure out how to talk to, sell to and profit from serving the Boomers.

Matt and his business partner John Martin have written a very convincing book called Boomer Consumer, Ten New Rules for Marketing to America's Largest, Wealthiest and Most Influential Group. If ad execs can read this book and still not revamp their campaigns to target Baby Boomers, they are more stuck in their 18-49 year old "desirable demographic" thinking that I would have thought possible!

When the Boomers TV team went to ad agencies in 2005 looking for sponsors to underwrite our 13 part television series Boomers! Redefining Life After Fifty, we were almost always sent into a conference room to talk to creatives and account execs who were in their 20's. They really couldn't relate to a show for a "demo" older than 35! Today, some agencies and the media in general are beginning to change, thanks to Boomers with power and name recognition who are talking about being over 50 as OK, even cool. The influence of people like Katie Couric and Dave Letterman are noted by Matt and John in their book.

Boomer Consumer is an interesting read, even if you don't have a lot of toothpaste or cars or trips to sell. The authors' psycho-social approach and their reminders that there are many kinds of Boomers with many different goals, dreams and lifestyles are valuable. But their conclusion that almost all Boomers will be looking for ways to stay vital in five key areas of life also rings true. They predict Boomers will seek financial vitality, physical vitality, mental vitality, social vitality, and spiritual vitality for at least another 40 years.

The authors also provide a reality check for those who think all of us are getting ready to retire next year...the median age of Boomers is just 51. And the halfway point of Boomers reaching age 65 won't be here until 2022. So Boomers are still young enough to have to keep earning money and to spend it, often on brands that we didn't grow up loyal to because they just weren't around in the 50's, 60's or 70's. (Boomers, show us your iPods!)

For more, visit www.boomerconsumer.com.

Housing to Live on Less - Advice from the Retire Early Lifestyle Couple

by Nancy Fernandez Mills

Billy and Akaisha Kaderli retired early…very early! At the age of 38, they left their lives as stock broker (Billy) and restaurant manager (Akaisha) and moved from California to the tiny West Indies island of Nevis. From there, they began to travel the world. Today, they maintain a home in an active adult community in Arizona. They’re still retired and say they manage to live on $ 24,000 a year.

Billy and Akaisha make their home in an Active Adult Community, where they spend about half of every year.

“We have the best of both worlds,” says Akaisha. “Billy and I often leave the States for months at a time to visit exotic locations. We set up a home base on the other side of the globe and settle into the local community. Then, due to visa restrictions or a desire to see family and friends once again, we return home to America’s stunning Southwest.”

The home they chose is a “manufactured” home. From appearance, it’s similar to a trailer but shaped more like a bungalow or small ranch house. It offers about 1000 square feet of living space and is priced around $ 7000.

“I realize that there are some who feel that manufactured housing aren't real homes, that they are like toys, or somehow, inferior places to live. These types of houses have improved greatly over the years, and the attractiveness of their affordability has been proven by their rise in sales," say Billy. “Our home is paid for so we don't carry a mortgage with the financial weight that this brings to any lifestyle. Let me say that this is a very attractive arrangement and it frees us up to roam the world, renting apartments or hotel rooms without thought of draining our finances in the housing category.”

Billy and Akaisha take advantage of their community’s many amenities, including social clubs, ballrooms for dancing, computer centers, fitness rooms, tennis courts, swimming pools, softball fields, libraries, travel offices, and lecture halls. All are included in a reasonable “lifestyle fee.” They don’t own their land, however. They decided that leasing was a better option, leaving more of their money available for travel.

”It’s our position that many people do not realize how expensive owning property is. The maintenance it requires and the rising property taxes are expenses that cannot be ignored. We’ve lived here since the early 1990's, and our lifestyle fees are less than most homeowner's property tax bill. During these many years, our lease has increased a couple of hundred dollars total, but it is still a measurable value for all of the amenities included,” says Akaisha.

By owning less, Akaisha and Billy have less to insure. The say they feel a greater sense of freedom, to just lock the door and walk away to travel or visit friends and family. They know it’s not for everyone, but they prefer to pay for experiences, to buy very little “stuff” and to have time to pursue hobbies, volunteer and community activities and making friends and memories around the globe.

It's not for everyone, by it's a low stress way to live! You can learn more about Akaisha and Billy at their Retire Early Lifestyle website.

Boomers! TV Series Inspires Our New Book

by Nancy Fernandez Mills

Greetings! This blog comes to you after a long hiatus. Mark and I have been off line for several months, but we've been busy, writing a new book for fellow mid-lifers. Boomers! Funding Your Future in an Age of Uncertainty will be in bookstores on August 7th - that's according to our publisher, Kaplan Publishing. And you'll be able to order it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Booksense.

Why would you buy it? We think of it as a handbook for Baby Boomers as they think about, dream about and plan for the next phase of life. We divided the book into sections that touch on the major themes of our fifties and sixties: Planning (starts with You Are Your Best Asset!); Work (includes Workplace Revolution, Blueprint for Career Change and Time to Be Your Own Boss); Home (The Next Boomer Housing Boom and It's Your Move!); Money Boomer Guide to the Basics of Investing, Making the Most of Your 401K, Living on Less, Retirement Savings Toolbox); Health (Bridging the Health Care Gap, Health Care for the Long Haul); and, Family and Community (Four Generations and An Encore Performance).

While we included some of the wonderful experts and inspiring Boomers whom we met during the production of our Boomers television series, we also wanted to get practical here. Mark, who is a Certified Financial Planner and very practical guy, offers advice you can follow and tools to use. He makes it very easy to understand, even for non-financial people like me! For example, there's a section on answering that oh-so-important investment question: What percentage of my investments should be in stocks, bonds or cash? Mark gives four scenarios: one asset allocation for those who want to retire in 5 years, another if you have 10 years to go, another for 15 years and one for those with 20 years. All come complete with pie chart and a suggested portfolio.

We'll be offering you some advice and stories from the book here on a regular basis. We invite your questions and comments and hope you'll check back often, now that our Boomer Blog is back!