In what has become a fairly common practice, many college graduates move back in with their parents temporarily after graduation. I did this (thanks, Mom and Dad!); so did most of my friends. Living at home for a time generally allows new college grads to find a job and save up some money before heading out to live on their own.

"But now the slumping economy and the credit crunch are forcing some children to do so later in life—even in middle age," according to a recent Associated Press article.

The slumping economy, dwindling jobs and rising costs for housing, food, gas and medical care are all combining to make it harder for many people to make ends meet. So even some adults are moving back home with their parents to decrease the strain on their finances.

"Kim Foss Erickson, a financial planner in Roseville, Calif., north of Sacramento, said she has never seen older children, even those in their 50s, depending so much on their parents as in the last six months," according to the AP.

Parents, still being parents, are used to taking care of their children. "Parents feel guilty if they don’t offer help, but [Erickson] warns them to be careful with their savings," according to the AP. "Some of Erickson’s clients are giving as much as $50,000 at a time to their kids, many of whom have overextended themselves with big houses or lavish lifestyles," according to the AP.

But the parents of middle-aged adults are typically retired, semi-retired or nearing retirement and have to think about major expenses such as extensive medical care.

"Plenty of well-meaning parents must delay retirement or scale back their dreams because they have to help their children," Karen Maloney Stifler, a financial planner in Hudson, Ohio, said, according to the AP.

Adults who are considering moving back home with their parents for financial reasons should make sure that such a move makes sense for their parents, too.

Labels: Baby Boomers, Economy, Retirees

"With the baby-boomer generation approaching retirement, resulting in a shortage of approximately 10 million employees over the next decade, candidates with relevant work experience are becoming more in demand," according to ClassesUSA, an online higher education portal.

Many workers of a certain age fear being forced out of their jobs and forced into retirement so that their company can then hire younger replacements. Younger workers are cheaper, in theory, than their older counterparts. They generally cannot command wages as high as those with more experience and education than they have themselves.

Companies can also save by employing younger workers because they will have to shell out fewer dollars for health care, because younger workers are often healthier. Assuming a company participates in a matching program for retirement plans, they will also save money on that front, because the rate of young workers participating in retirement plans is smaller than the rate of older workers doing so.

"With the baby-boomer generation approaching retirement, resulting in a shortage of approximately 10 million employees over the next decade, candidates with relevant work experience are becoming more in demand. That gives older employees more leverage to request bigger paychecks and to change jobs later in life," according to ClassesUSA. "Fields such as health care, business-to-business services, education and services for the elderly are practically custom made for the older worker considering a job change."

The health care industry is ideal because many of the required academic programs can be completed in two years or less, and many health care jobs offer flexible schedules; consulting is a common opportunity in business-to-business settings, and consulting clearly favors those with experience in an industry; education is facing shortages and high turnover across the board and would benefit from older workers, who often bring a sense of loyalty to their workplace; and finally, older workers are especially cut out for the industry of services for the elderly because they are the ones most likely to understand what that population wants and needs.

For more details on why each of these industries are particularly well suited to workers 40 years old and older, see the entire article here.

Labels: Baby Boomers, Job Market, Retirees, Workforce

"3 million of Florida's 18.7 million residents are seniors, the densest concentration of elderly folk in the country," according to a recent Slate article.

Why is that the case? Well, according to the same article, Florida has "good weather, effective marketing, low taxes, and a herd mentality."

Once senior citizens began collecting Social Security, they had enough money to live independently during their retirement; this trend, practically unheard of in the beginning of the 20th century, became increasingly common during the rosy economy the U.S. had after World War II.

Around that time, according to the article, Florida was one of the least populous states in the nation, so real estatea developers bought up land and promoted the state as a great place to live, in part thanks to its warm climate.

But the growth had to level off at some point, and now many parts of Florida seem to have been built up to meet more demand than there actually is. And, of course, the law of supply and demand should always be on investors' minds.

Orlando, Miami and West Palm Beach came in third, fourth and fifth, respectively, on NuWire's list of the Top 5 Overbuilt U.S. Markets in 2007. And one Florida market is overloaded in another way: Jacksonville was third on NuWire's Top 10 Foreclosure Markets for 2007. These factors could contribute to investors being able to purchase properties below market value, but investors need to crunch the numbers before jumping into a deal just because the price is low.

In addition, investors interested in Florida should remember to pay some attention to the other age groups in the state. Florida is home to a lot of colleges and universities and thus has a large young adult population. Two cities in Florida--Tallahassee and Gainesville--were first and third, respectively, on NuWire's 2007 list of the Top 10 Small College Towns for Investment.

Labels: Retirees