1. January 1, 2011 – The very first Baby Boomers turned 65. 
2. For the next 15 years, every day more than 10,000 Baby Boomers will reach the age of 65.
3. Baby boomers, defined as persons born between 1946 and 1964, number 76.4 million in 2012 and account for about one-quarter of the population.
4. December 31, 2029 – The last of the boomers will turn 65. The 65+ population segment is projected to double to 71.5 million by 2030 and grow to 86.7 million by 2050.
5. Currently, just 13% of Americans are ages 65 and older. The age-65-and-older population grew 18 percent between 2000 and 2011 to 41.4 million senior citizens.
6. The population age 65 and older is expected to more than double between 2012 and 2060, from 43.1 million to 92.0 million. In 2060, when the youngest of them would be 96 years old, they are projected to number around 2.4 million and represent 0.6 percent of the total population.
7. The older population (65 and older) would represent just over one in five U.S. residents by the end of the period, up from one in seven today.
8. The percentage of the U.S. population that is 60-to-64 will increase from 5.4% in 2010 to 6.2% in 2020, while the population aged 65 to 74 will grow from 6.9% to 9.5%.
9. In 2010, each retiree’s Social Security benefit is paid for by approximately 3.3 U.S. workers. By 2025, it is projected that there will be approximately two U.S. workers for each retiree.
10. By 2015 Generation Y will outnumber Baby Boomers in the workforce. By 2020, Generation Y will account for 45% of all U.S. workers. Gen X and Gen Y will make up 65% of our workforce by 2020.
Source: Department of Health and Human Services, census.gov, and Administration on Aging, Bureau of Labor Statistics
[…] Boomers transformed everything from our housing market to Social Security to our workforce. But Baby Boomers, or those born during the post wartime ‘baby boom’ of 1946 and 1964, have grown up and are now […]
Social security as we know it today will feel like club med compared to when I retire at 72 in 2035. The entitled grandparents of today will do it on the backs of many Americans who won’t see half the benies they are getting now.