RASCAL REPORT
An eye on baby boomers since 2022
The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been.
– Author Madeleine L'Engle
Can thinking positively about aging help fight memory loss?
Everyone gets older, but beliefs about aging may play a key role in older adults’ mental well-being and cognition. A study published in JAMA Network Open Trusted Source explored how beliefs about aging influenced recovery from mild cognitive impairment. Researchers found that those with positive aging beliefs were more likely to experience mild cognitive impairment improvements than those with negative aging beliefs.
Boomer judge objects to ‘absurd’ law criminalizing pot
The defendant had been caught in his parents’ house with 7.5 ounces of marijuana, and the judge was getting ready for the prosecution to try him as an adult since he was 18, and technically could be held responsible under the adult laws. But the district attorney said he planned to try the case under Germany’s youth laws. That gave Judge Andreas Müller an opening. Presiding over the courtroom in the traditional black robe and white tie, he immediately threw out the case, citing a youth court statute that encourages rehabilitation rather than punishment. “Maybe one day, when you’ve had the chance to learn to become an able businessman, you can become a cannabis entrepreneur,” Mr. Müller told the defendant, eliciting chuckles in the courtroom.
Baby Boomers: Your talent shortage secret weapon
Between a talent shortage and economic downturn, finding top talent can be one of HR’s biggest headaches right now. With a low unemployment rate – hovering around 3.5% – HR is at a loss with where to find talent. However, HR may be overlooking one critical part of the talent pool: retirees. With thousands of Baby Boomers reaching retirement age every day – in what’s coined the “The Great Retirement” – many organizations are grappling with what to do as more and more Baby Boomers leave the workforce. However, many retirees aren’t done for good. In fact, a recent report from Paychex found that one in six retired Americans are considering re-entering the workforce. Even if HR can see the untapped potential in retirees, the real challenge can be getting buy-in from leadership. Many leaders are afraid to hire older people because they have misconceptions, such as:
Baby Boomers don’t understand technology
They’re weak or sick, and
They’re only looking for interim work.
Gen X snapping up cottages amid $1-trillion wealth transfer from baby boomers
Cohort drove activity in 91% of regions (in Canada) surveyed by Re/Max. Members of gen X, aged 43 to 58, are driving activity across the country and are behind 91 per cent of transactions, said Re/Max’s latest cottage trends report. That’s a marked change from previous years when the market has been driven by retirees, made up of baby boomers, aged 59 to 79, and their gen-X children. Much of this can be attributed to baby boomers passing their money down to family as part of the expected $1-trillion intergenerational wealth transfer.
Boomers, you’ve done OK – but don’t expect undying affection from us millennials
Younger people can only watch in envy as older generations are tempted into golden early retirement. I have often wondered why young people haven’t made more fuss about intergenerational unfairness, and why they so willingly sacrificed so much in the pandemic. Perhaps the answer is simple. Unlike most sorts of inequality, the opposing groups are bound by love: children don’t want to argue away their parents’ winter fuel allowance. (Parents, of course, feel this too but deal with it by handing what they can to their own offspring; screw everyone else’s.)