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2024 Research

Portrait of the American
Baby Boomer

As one of the nation’s largest developers and managers of continuing care retirement communities, Erickson Senior Living is committed to understanding and accommodating the priorities of America’s seniors, including the Baby Boomers.

As a result, Erickson recently completed an in-depth research initiative exploring the activities, issues, and opportunities this influential generation values most.

Key Findings

Living Life With Purpose

Among the findings of the research:

  • There was strong consensus among younger (aged 60-69) and older (aged 70-78) Boomers to live life with purpose. For example:
    • 96% of younger Boomers prioritize spending time with family, as do 98% of older Boomers.
    • 94% of younger Boomers prioritize traveling, as do 90% of older Boomers.
    • 95% of younger Boomers make a point of eating healthy; 92% of older Boomers do the same.
  • In some cases, defining how to live life with purpose differed among Boomers based on their age range:
    • 66% of younger Boomers make a point to try new hobbies compared to 46% of older Boomers.
    • 56% of younger Boomers participate in mindfulness activities like yoga or meditation, while only 39% of older Boomers do.
    • 67% of younger Boomers choose to volunteer compared to 55% of older Boomers.

Retirement Finances

On the financial front:

  • 59% of younger and older Boomers want to leave their family or loved ones a significant amount of money.
  • But 55% of younger Boomers hope to spend as much of their money as they can while only 46% of older Boomers felt that way.
  • Generally, older Boomers feel more financially secure than younger Boomers:
    • 89% of older Boomers think they will have enough money for health care expenses compared to 79% of younger Boomers.
    • 86% of older Boomers believe they will have enough money for any travel or other activities they want to do compared to 80% of younger Boomers.

Retirement Age

And in terms of the timing of their retirement:

  • 28% of younger Boomers retired earlier than they expected compared to 35% of older Boomers.
  • 53% of younger Boomers retired at about the age they wanted to, while 51% of older Boomers did.
  • 19% of younger Boomers retired or will retire older than anticipated compared to 35% of older Boomers who retired older than anticipated.

Lifestyle Priorities

Erickson Senior Living commissioned this survey, which was conducted by Edge Research between April 9th and April 25th, 2024. The survey was conducted using a hybrid methodology, collecting data both online and via phones, and reached 817 Boomers (Age 60-68) and 402 Silent Generation (age 79 and older) nationwide. All respondents had to have a retirement income of at least $50,000, own their home, and have a home value of at least $250,000. Quotas were set to ensure the sample was representative of this age group in terms of geography and gender. There have been three previous waves of this survey conducted in January 2020 (517 Boomers, 522 Silent Generation), June 2020 (261 Boomers, 254 Silent Generation), and April 2022 (508 Boomers, 513 Silent Generation).