That makes you face up to your mortality to some extent. But not everyone is prepared for the inevitability of growing older and all that it entails, Sapp says. We may say we're looking forward to retirement, to spending time with our grandchildren, but we forget to project that we'll be older then. That's not a goal that we, as a society, relish-the baby boomers least of all. Already they have redefined the word.
Boomers can expect to remain physically active well into their seventies and beyond.
Boomer men can expect to live to an average age of 86, while boomer women can look forward to celebrating their 92nd birthday. On one hand, those longer life spans are a testament to achievements in science, medicine, and technology. The future of one chief resource, Social Security, is uncertain. President Clinton foresees a balanced budget in 1999 and has urged Congress to apply a surplus in subsequent years to strengthening the system. But barring such action, some experts say that Social Security could go bankrupt in 2013, when the first of the baby boomers start to retire.