Focus on Retirement Programs for Baby Boomers

The way people retire is going to change dramatically in the new millennium. As 80 million baby boomers prepare to retire in the next 10 years, financial service professionals are setting their sites on helping this generation find the best ways to spend their nest egg.

It is believed that many retirees will take the non-traditional retirement route and pursue second careers, explore educational options or take vacations that are tied to the ability to generate income. Not the pension check lifestyle we traditionally equate with retirement.

The industry has already begun to respond to this need with a variety of Internet-based services designed to guide baby boomers into their retirement years. Fund manager T. Rowe Price [1] recently introduced the "Retirement Income Manager," a computer program that analyzes market variables and retirement strategies. Strong Funds [2] has a Web site with a "living in retirement" feature that helps people determine if their assets will allow them to maintain their desired standard of living. And the list goes on.

Those financial service companies that don't have some type of retirement program will undoubtedly have something to offer their baby boomer clients in the very near future.