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What Will Happen to Multi-family When Boomers Retire en Masse?

The “Silver Tsunami” is coming by 2030 and in some places, it has already begun.

Americans born during and directly following the end of WWII, commonly referred to as Baby Boomers, represent the second largest age demographic group in the U.S. behind millennials. As this massive group moves toward retirement, it is signaling big changes for multi-family buildings of the future.

By the Numbers

There are an estimated 70K Americans turning 65 every week. By 2030, the number of Americans age 65 or older is going to climb above 75 million and over 83 million by 2050. For those in the multi-family sector, trying to meet the needs of this generation is going to take some new ways of thinking about multifamily housing.

Take for instance the fact that most people in this group are experiencing way more financial insecurity than their parents did at this stage in their lives. Most retirees will not have a pension to rely on but instead will depend largely on social security to survive – and some political moves in the works further threaten that safety net.

One survey conducted last year showed that approximately 60% of Boomers have little savings to cover any financial shortfalls, holding onto $10K in savings or less on average and about 30% have no savings to fall back on at all. Many are delaying retirement in an effort to try to quickly build up their own private safety net before they are forced to retire.

Read more from NAI Global

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