'We're Not Dead Yet.' Baby Boomers' Good Times Drive the Economy.- WSJ
Georgetown, Texas, is the fastest-growing city in the U.S. It’s largely thanks to the baby boomers. Thousands of them have settled in an enormous planned community called Sun City Texas: 5,421 acres of single-family homes clustered around pools, fitness centers and pickleball courts, reserved mostly for buyers 55 and older. The hottest party is the yearly Mardi Gras parade and ball. The median age is 73.
“We’re not dead yet,” said Suzanne Herndon, 70, who moved to Sun City in 2021.
Cities are often focused on attracting young families, or hip remote workers. But Sun City residents have turned out to be the best economic stimulus Georgetown could ask for. The city’s operating budget is flush. Its rainy day fund is brimming. Stores, restaurants, hospitals and health clinics add hundreds of jobs every year. Of Georgetown’s 96,000 residents, about 17,000 live in Sun City.
Older Americans are emerging as major drivers of the economy. Their stock portfolios, retirement savings and paid-off homes have swelled in value over decades of growth. Hours once spent raising young children and working can now be devoted to golf, concerts and brunch.
Today, Americans 55 and over control nearly 70% of U.S. household wealth, according to the Federal Reserve. In 1989, the first year of available data, they controlled just 50%. Their dollars amount to 45% of U.S. personal spending, according to Moody’s Analytics, up from 29% three decades ago.
Boomer-rich Georgetown has now been the No. 1 city for population growth for three years in a row, according to an analysis of Census Bureau data for cities with populations of at least 50,000. Georgetown grew nearly 11% in 2021, another 14% in 2022, and 11% again last year.
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