Baby Boomers’ outlook toward life, work and enjoyment in their next life’s chapter

Del Webb, America’s largest homebuilder of active adult communities released in April its 10th Baby Boomer Survey since 1996. The Survey reveals new and compelling facts and opinions from the generation of Americans born between the years of 1956-1964 and estimated to be 80 million strong by 2020.

Arguably “growing up” during one of the most defining eras of the 20th century, the Baby Boomer generation is now moving into Del Webb communities today. Their attitudes of the 1960s have shaped much of the world today. Unlike previous age groups, the Baby Boomer mindset towards growing older and retirement is as revolutionary as their culture, which continues to exert a huge influence on art, music, media, civil rights, politics, self-expression, sex and relationships, and social interaction, among many other areas of American life.

According to the findings from Del Webb, Baby Boomers feel that the concept of “old age” is simply a state of mind and that “age is nothing – attitude is everything!”

Among the many highlights of the Del Webb 2010 Baby Boomer Survey Include:

• Boomers opine that “old age” officially begins a 80
• Boomers feel much younger due to their “mental attitude”
• Distance between their real age and perceived age grows
• They feel 15 years younger than they actually are
• More than 50 percent of Boomers exercise regularly
• A high percentage of Boomers feel that they are “in better shape” as they get older
• 72 percent of Boomers plan to keep working in some capacity after retirement
• Boomers turning 50 this year believe they need to save more money than older Boomers
• New hobbies and multiple interests are key to Boomer happiness
• One-third of Boomers have pursued additional educational opportunities
• Volunteerism is important to Boomers
• Boomer Migration: the cost of living and access to health care more important than warm climate considerations

The Del Webb 2010 Baby Boomer Survey
In late 2009, Del Webb conducted two surveys among different baby boom populations: Survey one included younger baby boomers turning 50 years of age in 2010 and older baby boomers turning 64 in 2010; Survey two included current Del Webb residents with a median age of 65 among respondents.  The purpose of these surveys was to understand the similarities and differences between younger baby boomers and older baby boomers (Survey 1); and how those specific age-cohorts compared with residents of Del Webb communities across the nation (Survey 2). Also used in the analyses are responses from a survey conducted in 1996 among baby boomers turning 50 that year.  Survey 1 was conducted by a third party research firm with the results analyzed by Del Webb research experts and Survey 2 was conducted among current Del Webb residents internally by Del Webb.  Survey 1 was conducted among 504 turning 50 year-olds and 510 turning 64 year-olds and carries a sampling error of +/- 4.4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level among questions asked of all respondents.  Survey 2 was conducted internally among 1,230 randomly selected current Del Webb residents and carries a +/- 3.1% sampling error at the 95 percent confidence level.  Sampling errors for the various subsample results within the main populations are higher and vary.

Press release on Del Webb Baby Boomer Survey
PowerPoint on Data and Results of Del Webb Baby Boomer Survey