Baby boomers threaten the economy?

We subscribe to the Globe & Mail online. There is no delivery here. I'm always amazed at the stories I miss if I scroll online. They have a section I've never seen The Boomer Shift. I don't want fearmongering. I want facts,

Are you a boomer?

It depends upon where you were born, not just when. To quote a retired Statcan dude:

.if you correctly anchor the baby boom around its peak and mid-point in 1959, then the baby boom will, in fact, turn 56 in 2015. That means the bulk of the baby boom is still in the labour force and the explosion in our dependency ratio will not peak until 2024 -- a decade from now.

My 'old' husband dispatches Meals on Wheels weekly to 45 people who need help with meal supplements. There is a wonderful group of volunteers who do so.

There are many seniors and retirees who still make a difference in the world. They support those who are still working, some of our peers, who still choose to or must work. It IS humiliating. Aging is NOT a disease. Nor are we 'geezers.'

We're blamed for everything! We are blamed with the horrors of the Silver Tsunami, whereby all of us will need long-term care soon. Sigh.

Some are claiming that boomers are all upper class, stealing from the Gen Xers! We're rolling in RRSPs, and increasing housing sales. We retirees are doing no such thing. It's those upper classes working and living in Vancouver and Toronto who are raising such prices. My rich cousin, who moved to Gabriola Isl., is living off large incomes from a life time of being a medical doctor.

Now, you have to be 70 to be at that point where you MUST withdraw funds from RRSPs! There are few of us who use the TFSA in which to shelter a meagre $5 to 10,000 tax free. These are not the people in my circles!

We pay our fair share of taxes. The middle class truly do. We have few shelters. It is the upper classes, with after-tax incomes of more than $100,000 per year, where we must focus attention.

It's time for boomers to pay their fair share of taxes

ROB CARRICK

Let’s start with tax-free savings accounts. Since the Liberal victory in the federal election, some people have been complaining about the impending rollback in the annual TFSA contribution limit to $5,500 from $10,000. The Liberals explained the move by saying only wealthy people are able to take advantage of the 

$10,000 limit, which is not strictly true.

Many retirees can use a high TFSA limit to shelter money they are annually required to withdraw from their registered retirement income funds, but don’t actually need. 

A cautionary tale: Learn from those smart, stingy boomers and think before you spend

MARSHA LEDERMAN

I’ve been reading The Globe and Mail’s The Boomer Shift series with fascination, dread and, I admit, some envy this week. While boomers prepare to cash in on generous pension plans and cash out of real estate bought on the (relative) cheap, trouble is looming for the next generations, with rising health-care costs and a shrinking labour force – and slower economic growth.

Canada's Baby Boom Is Nothing Like the One in the U.S.

While it is fairly accurate to define the U.S. baby boom as having taken place in the period between 1946 and 1964, that is definitely not true for Canada.

The baby boom was not the result of frisky soldiers returning to Canada. It was, instead, the result of the very good economic times in the period 1952 to 1965 allowing for at-home moms and large families...

Generations in Canada- Statcan

Boomers, again: Old Canadians now outnumber children 
"this geezer bulge was coming. The 1946-1965 baby boom"
Statistics Canada says the country's population now features more seniors than children. Data released by the national agency today indicates the number of residents over the age of 65 now make up 16.1 per cent of the country's population as of July 1, 2015.

The Canadian baby boom years are different from the U.S.

By Robert Brown - See more at: http://umanitoba.ca/outreach/evidencenetwork/archives/22880#sthash.QpAh51j6.dpuf
As a retired demographer, I do indeed tire of the endless articles in the Canadian press that either just quote U.S.-based stories about the baby boom or make the incorrect assumption that the Canadian baby boom mirrored that south of the border (see, for example, a recent news item in the Globe and Mail). - 

The boomer’s dilemma: When to start collecting CPP?

As the baby boomers retire, the threat of intergenerational inequality looms

The boomer shift: How Canada’s economy is headed for major change