Thank you for the insights. I'm at the tail end of the baby boomer tales. I am fortunate that I am able to draw on the Social Security benefits (monthly check).
I started the benefits when I "took the retirement lump sum pension and ran" from the last company where I was an employee. With those 2 sources of funds and a military disability check, I see myself working at someting still - even just to keep my mind young.
I get to work from anywhere now as it's through a computer with the Internet.
Brian, you bring up many excellent points about the situation Gen Xers are in.
For most of the advancements in lifespan and healthspan that are coming about currently and off into the AI- and robotics-fueled 2030s, it will be Gen X that those advancements truly get tested on. Yes, the Baby Boomers will be tested on to some extent, but at 60+yo currently (and 70+ come 2035), there's only so much longer-term testing and analysis that can be performed on them. So, it's us that really get experimented on for the benefit of Millennials and much more so for Gen Z and Gen Alpha.
As for Social Security and Medicare, well, both of them are currently slated to go bankrupt in 2033, right as Gen X will have paid into the our entire lives. Thank goodness my parents drilled into me as a teenager that inevitability, and I have planned accordingly the past 40+ years. I'm not sure what most of Gen X is going to do unless they too planned appropriately. Yet another DC Disaster to navigate though.
All these topics and more are the core conversation over on The Long Tomorrow. Check it out if you're curious.
The Leadership Bottleneck article on there just went live this morning. Timely, indeed!
Planning for all these issues is what my strategic advisory companies do, but I won't bore you or anyone else with yet more links. I love addressing all this though. Steven
As a Gen-Xer I can understand what you’re saying. We’ve had a lot to figure out with the invention of personal computers, CD players, streaming, and the cars that practically drive themselves. We also know how to change our own oil, fix a sink, and can do pretty much anything around the house that needs doing. We use computers but don’t rely on them to do everything for us, yet can tackle almost anything that’s thrown our way.
Millennials are more computer savvy than a lot of us are, but do they have the problem-solving skills that is required when it comes to real life and manual labour jobs? Don’t get me wrong; I have nothing against millennials (my kids are millennials) but they haven’t seen as many changes as we have. The boomers have seen even more in their lifetime, so they have earned their place on the totem pole.
Gen-Xers need to pave their own way, simply because depending on “retirement” may leave them short on resources to enjoy life after work. And if we can’t depend on the corporate system to survive, then it’s entirely up to us to build our own nest egg.
I was a big fan of Copyblogger. Pretty sure at one point I owned all the Studio Press Themes. Actually cried when I had to give up the Genesis Framework. Divi's made me miserable ever since. Anyway, I love that you're writing about Gen X, but I honestly have no idea what you're trying to say, which is crazy because I know your record. It feels like you're building toward something and with each post I keep hoping to find out what it is. What is it?
Thank you for the insights. I'm at the tail end of the baby boomer tales. I am fortunate that I am able to draw on the Social Security benefits (monthly check).
I started the benefits when I "took the retirement lump sum pension and ran" from the last company where I was an employee. With those 2 sources of funds and a military disability check, I see myself working at someting still - even just to keep my mind young.
I get to work from anywhere now as it's through a computer with the Internet.
Life is grande, as they would say in Ireland.
Brian, you bring up many excellent points about the situation Gen Xers are in.
For most of the advancements in lifespan and healthspan that are coming about currently and off into the AI- and robotics-fueled 2030s, it will be Gen X that those advancements truly get tested on. Yes, the Baby Boomers will be tested on to some extent, but at 60+yo currently (and 70+ come 2035), there's only so much longer-term testing and analysis that can be performed on them. So, it's us that really get experimented on for the benefit of Millennials and much more so for Gen Z and Gen Alpha.
As for Social Security and Medicare, well, both of them are currently slated to go bankrupt in 2033, right as Gen X will have paid into the our entire lives. Thank goodness my parents drilled into me as a teenager that inevitability, and I have planned accordingly the past 40+ years. I'm not sure what most of Gen X is going to do unless they too planned appropriately. Yet another DC Disaster to navigate though.
All these topics and more are the core conversation over on The Long Tomorrow. Check it out if you're curious.
https://thelongtomorrow.substack.com/
The Leadership Bottleneck article on there just went live this morning. Timely, indeed!
Planning for all these issues is what my strategic advisory companies do, but I won't bore you or anyone else with yet more links. I love addressing all this though. Steven
As a Gen-Xer I can understand what you’re saying. We’ve had a lot to figure out with the invention of personal computers, CD players, streaming, and the cars that practically drive themselves. We also know how to change our own oil, fix a sink, and can do pretty much anything around the house that needs doing. We use computers but don’t rely on them to do everything for us, yet can tackle almost anything that’s thrown our way.
Millennials are more computer savvy than a lot of us are, but do they have the problem-solving skills that is required when it comes to real life and manual labour jobs? Don’t get me wrong; I have nothing against millennials (my kids are millennials) but they haven’t seen as many changes as we have. The boomers have seen even more in their lifetime, so they have earned their place on the totem pole.
Gen-Xers need to pave their own way, simply because depending on “retirement” may leave them short on resources to enjoy life after work. And if we can’t depend on the corporate system to survive, then it’s entirely up to us to build our own nest egg.
I was a big fan of Copyblogger. Pretty sure at one point I owned all the Studio Press Themes. Actually cried when I had to give up the Genesis Framework. Divi's made me miserable ever since. Anyway, I love that you're writing about Gen X, but I honestly have no idea what you're trying to say, which is crazy because I know your record. It feels like you're building toward something and with each post I keep hoping to find out what it is. What is it?
Yea.. unfortunately that ain’t the case most of time these days.. if at all.
Which part?
Re: paying dues granting them that consideration.
More brilliant insights, my fellow X Man.