Tagged: Great Recession

The oldest of the baby boomers came of age in the 1960s and are beginning to retire. Their younger cohorts are still putting kids through college and building careers. Baby boomers are a giant portion of the population — 78 million people, by one estimate.

They grew up in an era of rising living standards, but the Great Recession destroyed any sense of financial security — and many nest eggs. Financial planner Tim Maurer outlines a variety of issues boomers face.

Who is a baby boomer, and what defines their financial situations?

The Great Recession touched a vast majority of Americans personally, a new study from Rutgers' Heldrich Center finds.

The most stunning number in the study: "Some 73 percent [of Americans] either lost a job themselves, or had a member of their household, a close relative, or a friend lose a job at some point in the past four years."

The report is pretty depressing. A few more findings:

One out of eight Americans moved this year, according to a report out this week from U.S. Census Bureau. That's up from last year's record low, but still much lower than it used to be. In the early '80s, roughly one in five Americans moved each year.

It's tempting to see the decline in the percentage of Americans who move each year as the product of the housing bust. After all, it's hard to move when your house is underwater.