Boomers often complain about not being able to retire because they are no longer empty nesters. Fifty-one percent of young Canadian adults between 20 and 29 still live with their parents. This is not unique to Canada because it has become a global phenomenon. In Italy, 70 percent of young adults live casa mama. In the UK, one in three parents are remortgaging their homes to support adult kids. In North America, these kids are nicknamed ‘Boomerangs’ for their tendency to keep coming home.
I don’t envy my boomer friends who have teenage kids or kids who have just graduated from university. Post-secondary education is a must nowadays and many young people are heavily in debt to pay back their loans. In Canada, the unemployment rate for 15- to 24-year-olds sits at 14 percent, doubling what it is for the general population. The harsh reality is that kids are overly protected nowadays when compared to our boomer generation. They want the comfort of home while they are still struggling to find a steady job. Many of my boomer friends are actually happy with this because like all parents, they are only as happy as their least happy child. Keeping their offspring at home enables parents to protect them even when they’ve reached adulthood.
So if boomers have kids staying at home and the economy is not improving, how on earth are they going to retire? Maybe retirement planning is all about accommodating your kids financially as well as permanently providing a shelter for them? I heard that CBC TV’s DOC ZONE will be airing a special on ‘Generation Boomerang’ to take a closer look at this subject this Thursday, November 10, at 9 p.m. EST. I’ll be interested to hear from more experts weighing in on this.
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