Good News and Bad News on Boomer Retirement.
DailyII.com reports on a GAO study (available here as a 70 page Acrobat file) with some good news for those concerned about the stock market and with some bad news for those concerned that people aren't saving enough to retire:
Retiring baby boomers are unlikely to sink the stock market by selling off assets, mainly because they have few assets to shed, the Government Accountability Office has found. The GAO says that, unlike previous generations, which had substantial assets squirreled away for retirement, baby boomers have fewer assets. “The good news is a meltdown [in the stock market] is unlikely,” says the GAO’s Barbara Bovbjerg. “The bad news is there is not a lot of retirement savings. Baby boomers need to think about what they’re going to retire on so the rates of return are very important.” The GAO says 5% of baby boomers account for 52% of all assets, in which case, those with massive assets most likely will “sell them slowly.”