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Back in 2007 the number of Canadians aged 55-64 jumped to 3.7 million and over 4 million people were over the age of 65. Despite the magnitude of these numbers back then, they will continue to and have been increasing in the last 5 years because the baby boomer generation account for close to a third of Canada's 32 million people. 2011 was the first year for people of the baby boomer's generation to turn 65; given that 1946 is when the start of the generation boom is generally agreed upon. Stats Canada projected that before 2017 one fifth of work force employees will be aged 55-64, meaning that Canada will have more people leaving the workforce than being able to enter it. Given this information businesses should have been preparing for the mass exit however, most haven`t prepared enough. The only saving grace for companies who haven't started training for their younger employees to replace their company's seniors is the fact that most people will end up working well into their 60's, probably past age 65, because they either don't have enough saved up to retire, or they have too much debt and need to pay it off before retirement is even an option.

Ostensibly, there are two types of boomers - those who grew up in the direct aftermath of WWII and had parents who lived during the depression and dirty '30's, and those who grew up in the more light-hearted and carefree '60's. The first half of the baby boomers had frugality instilled in them from their parents and are thought to be better off in their retirement because of it. The latter of the baby boomers grew up with a more carefree mindset that "everything will work itself out"; no worries. Because of that perspective they're not as prepared as they should be for retirement, and some may speculate that they won't have as much time to prepare if they're bodies have taken a solid toll from the "sex, drugs, and rock & roll" era.

Furthermore to parental influences, there are factors like how people internalize the prospect of retirement. For those people who have had areas of their life (like work) highly regimented the idea of retirement brings a sense of purposelessness which can lead to a spectrum of responses from depression to developing workaholic tendencies. Early boomers raised by depression era parents and/or people directly affected by a military lifestyle during the Cold War, whether they themselves fought or were raised in a house where their parent(s) were enlisted, are more likely to feel resentment toward retirement, and might subconsciously resist preparing for it! So the teachings of frugality might still be lost on some of the early boomers who seemed to be in better shape.

The baby boomer's retirement tsunami has been a creeping issue for a few years now, but as of 2011 it will grow in its intensity and severity every year. This triple threat of an aging workforce leading to less employees, more pension payouts, and more medical care costs is imminent. If you couple that reality with the specs on the average Canadian debt load the combination could be detrimental. Today the average Canadian family holds $100,000 of debt and the average income to debt ratio for Canadians is 150%. That's a whopping 57% ratio increase from 1990 when the income to debt ratio was only 93% and a 78% increase of the debt load average, which was only $58,000. Regardless of age people need to rein in their spending habits because we all know that the banks won't quit lending and profiting from peoples lack of financial literacy, and cost of living inflation won't cease anytime soon either. Starting a nest egg young is vital, but for those who have less sand in their hour glass the key is to deal with debt as soon as possible so that they have more funds to invest in themselves, rather than wasting it on credit interest.

Randal Clark
Turnaround Consultant
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
http://www.randalclark.com

By Randal Clark