Banking and the impending Baby Boomer crisis
As a percent of the population, Baby Boomers will soon outstrip people under 18. When that happens, loan-to-deposit ratios will plummet and profits will drop. Financial marketers must plan now for an aging population.
When Millennials get most of marketers’ attention — followed closely by Generation Z — one might easily get the impression that Baby Boomers have become irrelevant.
To be sure, younger cohorts represent major, and long-running growth opportunities for financial institutions, particularly in areas such as digital banking, checking, credit cards, and lending products. But it would be a mistake to focus on other generations to the exclusion of Boomers.
It’s important for financial marketers to remember that this segment represents a markedly higher percentage of the population with each passing year. In fact, the U.S. Census Bureau reports that there will be 78 million people 65 years and older by 2035, compared to 76.7 million under the age of 18. That will mark the first time in U.S. history where seniors outnumber children.
Consider, too, that as of 2019 the youngest Boomers are 55, the oldest 73. This huge, still-active generation has prompted much debate about the workforce of the future, given that people are living longer, healthier, lives and working well into their late 60s.
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