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For the time being, all of my blogging will take place on the Boomer Consumer book blog, found here.

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A Business to Die For

The “death care” business is booming, and Boomers haven’t even begun to die in large numbers yet. We continue to be amazed at the attention now being given to the death business, from stories in local newspapers about funeral “celebrations” with live music and ice cream, to a new Web site and soon to be launched magazine called Obit (with the tagline “Revealing lives.”

We’re not drawn into the excitement about a well-written obituary (we skipped this past weekend’s 9th Great Obituary Writers' International Conference in Alfred, NY); and we find something a little creepy about a section of the Obit-mag.com site called “Mourning Roundup,” which links to obituary pages on newspaper sites across the country (we’re not making this up, ask Dave Barry).

There are even books for Boomers to bone up on getting to the boneyard: Michelle Cromer’s Exit Strategy: Thinking Outside the Box and Lisa Cullen’s Remember Me, A Lively Tour of the New American Way of Death. We guess if Boomers bought books on how to have a baby, then it makes sense we’re going to be buying books about dying.

And of course, we’re going to go green when we go. Learn how to do so yourself at greenburialcouncil.org. Or just buy the book (agh!): Grave Matters: A Journey Through the Modern Funeral Industry to a Natural Way of Burial.

The Ass Ceiling

From an article I wrote for the latest BoomerMarketingNews:

THE BOOMER GENERATION CAN BE SPLIT INTO TWO PARTS, those born from 1946-54 and those born from 1955-64. The older half, often called the Leading Edge Boomers, are the ones now ages 53 to 61. The younger half (actually more than half in terms of numbers), sometimes called Generation Jones, are ages 43 to 52 this year. It’s the younger half that finds itself coming face-to-face (pun intended) with the “Ass Ceiling.”

By now Generation Jones professionals are at or near the pinnacle of their careers, ready to step into the top positions in companies, departments and organizations across America. But alas, they can’t because the top seat is still occupied by another older Boomer. Actually, a lot of older Boomers. The reality is that older Boomers, those on the cusp of retirement and certainly prime candidates to take early retirement, are staying entrenched. This is by choice because they love their work, or it is out of necessity because they haven’t saved enough to be able to afford to quit.

We suspect those younger Boomers will tire of facing the Ass Ceiling and will be the ones most likely to enter the entrepreneurial fray in the coming years. Why stick around until you are 62 yourself before getting the brass ring, reluctantly released by some 70-year-old Boomer? Case in point: Some 427 of the Fortune 500 CEO’s are Boomers but only 135 of them are younger Boomers, 292 are Leading Edge Boomers. Many of whom aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

The problem only grows larger when you expand beyond the largest 500 companies in America. Who runs small businesses in America? In family-owned business it’s the big brother or sister who took over from Dad in the 1980’s. When will they step aside, and who will take their place? Not a younger sibling but their own children.

The Ass Ceiling also exists in real estate for younger Boomers. Older Boomers who are buying retirement or second homes are snatching up the best locations now, while younger Boomers are still sending kids to college and cannot as yet afford the investment. By the time younger Boomers get to that stage, the pickings will be slim.

The implication is that over time, younger Boomers may more closely associate with Generation Xer’s, that forgotten generation crushed by the weight of Boomers above them.

Not Gonna Happen (Until 2011)

Today Ben Bernanke told Congress that it's time to step up to the plate and deal with the coming economic doom and gloom from both Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid future liabilities being unfunded.

The headline on CNN.com is "Bernanke: Baby boomers threaten economy." This clearly puts all the blame on those ubiquitous Baby
Boomers, in typical fashion. Bernanke in fact cites two reasons for troubles ahead -- the demographic bubble caused by the post WWII boom in births, and the gains in longevity thanks to advances in medicine.

So why didn't CNN run a headline like "Bernanke: Good doctors threaten economy" or "Still Living Seniors threaten economy."

No, it's got to be the Boomers. The root cause of all that's bad in America

The irony, of course, is that it's going to be up to those Boomers in charge now (included Bernanke himself) to fix the problem.

Here's his concluding paragraph:

"To summarize, because of demographic changes and rising medical costs,federal expenditures for entitlement programs are projected to rise sharply over the next few decades. Dealing with the resulting fiscal strains will pose difficult choices for the Congress, the Administration, and the American people. However, if early and meaningful action is not taken, the U.S. economy could be seriously weakened, with future generations bearing much of the cost. The decisions the Congress will face will not be easy or simple, but the benefits of placing the budget on a path that is both sustainable and meets the nation's long-run needs would be substantial."

All of that is well and good, but nothing "meaningful" will take place until the first Boomers turns 65, in the year 2011. There will be lots of talk and promises to do something between now and then -- including during next year's election.

But trust me, there's not enough political willpower to do anything until Boomers start crossing that threshold of age 65.

Watch and see.

Entering the Blogosphere

We've fought this decision for over a year.

The issue was "not enough" as in:

Not enough to say.
Not enough demand.
Not enough time.

But with every other Tom, Dick and Wendy running blogs, we figured at the very least we had to defend our territory.

So here we are.

Not the first, not the last (but close). Our focus will be on being the best.

Tune in and judge for yourself.