We made a fuss when boomers turned 50 in 1996. Jim Thomas made sure no one could throw him a surprise party when he turned 50 in 1996. The baby boomers born in 1946 lived their youth in some of the most exciting and turbulent times. Of course, it is silly to generalize too much about a generation that the media helped create, whose current members range in age from 36 to 55, and whose most famous members born in 1946 include Clinton and his antithesis, President George W. Bush. Members of the leading wave of the baby boom are now entering their mid-50s.
Retirement is a reality for some and close enough to start counting off the years for others.
Still others are starting new careers, either by choice or necessity. As overwhelming a standard as that is, many boomers probably fit that definition, research suggests. They have cash, good health and the urge to buck the stereotype of fragile old age. Many are in the oldest part of the baby boom. Of course, that leaves 53-million boomers.