‘The golden years are not golden’: Boomers are hoarding most of America’s wealth and power because they’re terrified of outliving their money

The Baby Boomers have most of the wealth and power in America, so why are they so angry when this gets pointed out? In recent weeks, a collection of economic data and explanations of structural forces preventing important things like housing affordability, household formation and economic mobility have provoked many responses—some thoughtful, some angry, some even defensive, but increasingly urging me to look beyond the reliable generational framing. “Your article is gross,” one wrote to me. “There is no balance in the world we live in!” another said, adding, “a golf ball is a golf ball no matter how you putt it. So is the economy! Adapt!” Another gave me a sense of the angst felt when broad macro strokes don’t capture the reality on the ground for every micro-case: ” You write like every boomer is sitting on a McMansion and a seven‑figure IRA,” one bereaved Boomer wrote to me. “A lot of us are one bad diagnosis away from losing everything.” Still another wasn’t much of a hater at all, but wrote with wistfulness about what’s gone down. “Many boomers are poor, scared, and anxious about the life they have left,” they wrote. “They were led to believe that if they worked hard and climbed the corporate ladder you would eventually be able to be financially secure and retire at 65 and enjoy their ‘golden years.’ Many tried this approach but ran into misfortune along the way.” Either there was a layoff at 55 to 60 years old, unanticipated health issues, or others. “Life happens. For many boomers, the golden years are not golden, and they don’t have much to look forward to. Their bodies are broken and they are still in debt. They are trapped in a life without a way out and their future does not look golden. Yes, they live longer, but for too many of them, not better and certainly not in a way they expected when they were younger.” It speaks to the ver