Baby Boomers – Influential back then and still making waves

Baby Boomers, who represent a tremendous bump in births after World War II, are now in the prime of life. The Boomer generation – born between 1947 and 1964 - have influenced music, clothing, lifestyles, education, business, technology, health and fitness. More Boomers are college graduates than any generation before them. Baby Boomers were – and still are – avid consumers. Throughout their lives, Boomers were a buying bonanza and influenced what products manufacturers wanted to make. Even today, people 55 and older control more than 75% of America’s wealth. According to the US Government Consumer Expenditure Survey, Baby Boomers outspend other generations by about $400 million a year. Now that the successful, achievement-oriented Boomer generation is beginning to rollover their 401Ks, the result could be a tremendous “boom” in charitable donations.

Baby boomers aren’t looking back…or stepping back

Yes, it’s nostalgic to think about growing up with the Beatles and the Beach Boys, sit-ins and spaceships, and witnessing the advent of computers and shopping malls and cell phones. But as individuals and as a generation, Baby Boomers are still in the thick of everything. Here are a few examples.

Bill Gates (born 1955) is the wealthiest man in the world and one of the most philanthropic. After co-founding Microsoft and leading the company to become a behemoth in the tech industry, he turned his sights in a new direction, partnering with his wife Melinda, also a baby boomer (born 1964), toward the work of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. (The #3 richest person, according to Forbes’ 2017 list, is also a Baby Boomer – Jeff Bezos (born 1964), CEO of Amazon.  On that list, seven of the top 10 are actually older than baby boomers, and one – Mark Zuckerberg – is younger.)

Christine Lagarde (born 1956) is Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. This achievement is a first for women – but not her only first, having been the first woman to hold the post of Finance and Economy Minister of a G7 country and before that, being the first female chair of an international Law firm, Baker & McKenzie. Lagarde was elected to a second five-year term as head of the IMF in July, 2016 and she will continue the IMF’s work of fostering monetary cooperation and strengthening the international financial system.

James Allison, M.D. (born 1948),named as one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2017, is Chair of Immunology at Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He’s credited with changing the course of cancer treatment by focusing on the immune system instead of the tumor. First applied to metastatic melanoma, the medicines based on his research and his breakthroughs, now show promise for many other kinds of cancer. Patients outcomes are improving because the immune system can target the tumor specifically, adapt as the tumor changes, and continue to recognize cancer throughout the patient’s life. 

Oprah Winfrey (born 1954), is a cultural icon and has been a major force in the entertainment industry for more than three decades. She’s often described as powerful, influential, and revolutionary. The Oprah Winfrey Show, which was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011, was the highest-rated television program of its kind in history. Recently, after a relatively quiet spell, her media visibility has increased and rumors are spreading that she may consider running for President in 2020.

Five of the nine U.S. Supreme Court Justices are Baby Boomers.

They are Chief Justice John Roberts (born 1955), Samuel Alito (born 1950), Elena Kagan (born 1960), Sonia Sotomayor (born 1954), and Clarence Thomas (born 1948). Justices Breyer, Ginsburg, and Kennedy are older, and the newest Justice, Neil Gorsuch, just misses being a Baby Boomer by three years. 

Being a majority is not new to baby boomers. Up until 2016, when Millennials (ages 18-34) became the first group to outnumber the Baby Boomers, Boomers were the largest generation ever – by far. But Millennials still have some growing up to do. And Baby Boomers are planning to stick around for quite a while. 

Watch for more Baby Boomer profiles on babyboomers.com.