Todays Boomer Magazine November / December 2021 Vol.9 No.2

Vol.9 No.2

A Record Number of Americans are Quitting their Jobs. Here’s How they Make Money After they Quit.

Social Security: Cost of Living Adjustment Will See its Biggest Jump in Decades

Boomer Travel:

When COVID Restrictions Will Be Lifted on International Travel

The NEW Economy:

Uncomfortable Inflation is Here, and it’s Changing the Economy Millennial Moment: 8 Phrases Boomers Need to Stop Saying to Millennials (According to Millennials)

Old Enough for Sex:

How Boomers Changed American Family Life

We Are Back.

F (Forget)– Being Old: On Board a Boom’n Boomer Music Cruise!

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This Issue

November / December 2021 (Volume 9, No. 2)

Editor’s Letter

4

We Are Back

Social Security

5

Social Security's cost of living adjustment will see its biggest jump in decades

8 Phrases Boomers Need 9 to Stop Saying to Millennials (According to Millennials)

Boomer Travel

10

“Travel Love” and When International COVID Travel Restrictions Will Be Lifted

Americans are Quitting 14 their jobs. Here’s how they make money after they quit.

The NEW Economy:

16

Uncomfortable inflation is here, and it’s changing the economy

Boomer Healthy Eating

20

Clay Cooker Chicken & Veggies with Besar

F (Forget) Being Old

2012-2022 Celebrating 10 Years of Today’s Boomer Magazine!

Thank you!

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Founders: John Vardalas & Alexandra Maragha Editor-In-Chief: Alexandra V. Maragha Advertising: Team For Letters to the Editor, articles, and feedback as well as advertising inquiries visit us at www.TodaysBoomerMagazine.com

Today’s BoomeR Magazine is an online publication of

The American BoomeR Group For more information about Today’s BoomeR visit www.TodaysBoomerMagazine.com Find us on Twitter @todaysboomer For more information about The American BoomeR Group visit www.TheAmericanBoomer.com Follow on Facebook The American Boomer

On Board a Boom’n Boomer Music Cruise!

Old Enough For Sex

25

How Boomers Changed American Family Life

Today’s BoomeR Magazine Vol.9 No.2 Today’s Boomer is published quarterly (Jan/Feb/March, April/May/June, July/Aug./Sept., Oct./Nov./Dec.) Copyright © 2022. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

Visit www.TodaysBoomerMagazine.com

Today’s BoomeR 3

EDITOR’S LETTER

We Are Back.

A

Thankful, renewed, and determined to make it count!

(fea-

nd welcome back! It has been a while since we have last had the privilege and opportunity to connect with you, our readers! Since our last issue of March 2020, we all have been through so much change, development, and adjustment.

Through it all, we have had to survive - health-wise, financially, emotionally, physically, mentally and are still on these paths of recovery as we are emerging back into a new world that is changed.

Despite the thought that much of our surroundings have not physically changed, nor has policies, and deep systematic change have been present in our lives, but we all individually have changed. We all have some new breath of priorities and what is truly important with a new sense of understanding of what it is that is worth living with and for. We have experienced a pandemic but more than that, a sense of exposure. The world has been exposed to its faults and flaws and people have been exposed within their circles and positions to be accepted or denied, as well as self reflection for individuals to accept or deny not necessarily who they are, but have reflected and have emerged with who and where they want to be. Perhaps the main question that has been exposed is, do we want to continue and pick up where we left off, or use this recent experience as a time to emerge with a new sense of renewal and purpose to align with what really matters within us individually?

p. 4

This issue examines this question and view that not everyone wants to go back to “business as usual”, literally, leaving work without a rush to go back to the same old and likewise overall the value of goods (and the idea of value and values) have changed. The priorities of the individual have become more apparent leaving individuals and boomers to retire even sooner than expected, as well as their families to have a new sense of direction.

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We at Today’s Boomer magazine would like to thank everyone who have supported us and continues to support us and we welcome you to our new websites www.todaysboomermagazine.com and our parent site www.themaericanboomer.com to enjoy our new looks and information.

We wish everyone the best of health, happiness, and sense of gratitude Alexandra V. Maragha for what we are gifted with the opportunity of each day. Reflect, prioritize, renew, and make it count!

Editor-In-Chief

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Social Security:

Social Security's cost of living adjustment will see its biggest jump in decades

Millions of retirees on Social Security will get a 5.9% boost in benefits for 2022. The biggest cost-of-living adjustment in 39 years follows a burst in inflation as the economy struggles to shake off the drag of the coronavirus pandemic.

"It goes pretty quickly," retiree Cliff Rumsey said of the cost-of-living increases he's seen. After a career in sales for a leading steel manufacturer, Rumsey lives near Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. He cares at home for his wife of nearly 60 years, Judy, who has advanced Alzheimer's disease.

Since the coronavirus pandemic, Rumsey said he has noted price increases for food, wages paid to caregivers who occasionally spell him and personal care products for Judy, not to mention energy costs.

The COLA affects household budgets for about 1 in 5 Americans. That includes Social Security recipients, disabled veterans and federal retirees, nearly 70 million

By Jenny Kane, AP

people in all. For baby boomers who embarked on

WASHINGTON — Millions of retirees on Social Security

retirement within the last 15 years, it will be the biggest

will get a 5.9% boost in benefits for 2022. The biggest

increase they've seen.

cost-of-living adjustment in 39 years follows a burst in inflation as the economy struggles to shake off the drag "It's going to be welcome," said analyst Mary Johnson of the coronavirus pandemic.

of the nonpartisan Senior Citizens League advocacy group. "But what we are hearing is that even with the

The COLA, as it's commonly called, amounts to $92 a

COLA, buying power will still be eroded because price

month for the average retired worker, according to

increases are still going up."

estimates released Wednesday by the Social Security Administration. That marks an abrupt break from a long Policymakers say the COLA was designed as a safeguard

lull in inflation that saw cost-of-living adjustments

to protect Social Security benefits against the loss of

averaging just 1.65% a year over the last 10 years.

purchasing power in an ever-changing economy, and not a pay bump for retirees. About half of seniors live in

With the increase the estimated average Social Security households where Social Security benefits provide at payment for a retired worker will be $1,657 a month

least 50% of their income, and one-quarter rely on their

next year. A typical couple's benefits would rise by $154 monthly payment for all or nearly all their earnings. to $2,753 per month.

"Regardless of the size of the COLA, you never want to minimize the importance of the COLA," said retirement Today’s BoomeR 5

policy expert Charles Blahous, a former public trustee

Medicare's Part B premium for outpatient care is

helping to oversee Social Security and Medicare

expected soon. It's usually an increase, so at least

finances. "What people are able to purchase is very

some of any Social Security raise goes for health care.

profoundly affected by the number that comes out.

The Part B premium is now $148.50 a month, and the

We are talking the necessities of living in many cases." Medicare trustees report estimated a $10 increase for 2022.

This year's Social Security trustees report amplified

Economist Marilyn Moon, who also served as public

warnings about the long-range financial stability of the trustee for Social Security and Medicare, said she program, but there's little talk about fixes in Congress

believes the current spurt of inflation is an adjustment

with lawmakers' attention consumed by President Joe

to highly unusual economic circumstances and the

Biden's massive domestic agenda legislation and

pattern of restraint on prices will reassert itself with

partisan machinations over the national debt. Social

time. "I would think is going to be an increase this year

Security cannot be addressed through the budget

that you won't see reproduced in the future," Moon

reconciliation process Democrats are attempting to

said.

use to deliver Biden's promises.

Policymakers should not delay getting to work on retirement programs. "We're at a point in time where

But Social Security's turn will come, said Rep. John

people don't react to policy needs until there is a

Larson, D-Conn., chairman of the House Social Security sense of desperation, and both Social Security and subcommittee and author of legislation to tackle

Medicare are programs that benefit from long-range

looming shortfalls that would leave the program

planning rather short-range machinations," she said.

unable to pay full benefits in less than 15 years. His bill

would raise payroll taxes while also changing the COLA formula to give more weight to health care expenses and other costs that weigh more heavily on the elderly. Larson said he intends to press ahead next year. "This one-time shot of COLA is not the antidote," he said.

Although Biden's domestic package includes a major expansion of Medicare to cover dental, hearing and vision care, Larson said he hears from constituents that seniors are feeling neglected by the Democrats.

"In town halls and tele-town halls they're saying, 'We are really happy with what you did on the child tax credit, but what about us?'" Larson added. "In a midterm election, this is a very important constituency."

The COLA is only one part of the annual financial equation for seniors. An announcement about 6 Today’s BoomeR

Save Social Security: Now and Forever TheAmericanBoomer.com thanks you for your continual support and for making your voice heard in Saving Our Social Security!

With proposed changes in the federal budget and looming inflation in the U.S. economy, the work to maintain and preserve the Social Security Trust Fund is far from over.

For More Information visit www.TheAmericanBoomeR.com Today’s BoomeR 7

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A Millennial Moment 8 Phrases Boomers Need to Stop Saying to Millennials (According to Millennials) From editor@purewow.com (PureWow) When it comes to generational divides, boomers and millennials go at it like two squabbling siblings. Boomers just don’t understand why this younger gen can’t do things the way they did, while millennials are saying the old ways don’t all work, so can we open our minds a bit? From marriage, to pregnancy and even punctuation, these two generations are always at odds. And while millennials don’t mind taking advice from their predecessors, here are 10 phrases boomers just need to stop saying to millennials.

4. “You need to have tougher skin.”

We can go right ahead and put this one to bed because the idea that millennials are “snowflakes” who crumble at the smallest advent of adversity or criticism was actually disproved. A study focusing on levels of hypersensitivity found that people in the baby boomer category are generally more sensitive than certain younger generations—including millennials. And you can’t argue with science. Right?

5. “I never went to a therapist and I turned out just fine.”

1. “That's just how the world works.”

A study by Sanford Health found that 53 percent of millennials Millennials came of age through 9/11, endless wars abroad and admitted that health and wellness was a priority in their lives. a recession and housing market crash that made And who can blame them, considering this is the generation graduating from college and joining the workforce seem, well, that grew up seeing the long-term effects of unhealthy eating futile. Climate catastrophe, toxic politics, racial violence and (Super-Size Me anyone?), excessive smoking and extreme inequities, an exhausting gig economy and a global pandemic drinking. Millennials also grew up learning about the have given millennials a front-row seat to systemic failures that consequences of unresolved emotional traumas and mental many boomers didn’t experience. So maybe it’s health conditions so yeah, mental health is a priority. millennials who see boomers as having an unrealistic view of 6. “All this pronoun stuff is ridiculous.” the world.

We could get on our soapbox about how gender is a social 2. “Just take whatever job you can get.” construct, but let’s keep this short and sweet: If you identify as With raging student loans and high costs of living at the the gender you were assigned at birth and you feel as though forefront of their minds, the fact that millennials are actively your pronouns suit you, great. However, you don’t dictate how looking for higher-paying jobs may come off entitled to someone feels about their gender and their pronouns, so be boomers who came of age in a starkly different job market. respectful and use their preferred pronouns.

However, with the average millennial owing $38,877 in 7. "Can you explain cryptocurrency and NFTs?" student debt, they simply want to make sure compensation We get that millennials are the generation that ushered in the matches the job description. technology age, but the concept of cryptocurrency and NFTs is 3. “Why are you still renting?” way too complex and trips up even the most tech-savvy, The prospect of making a comfortable living and being able to digitally in-tune millennial. Some of us peaked during the buy a house in your 20s or 30s just isn’t a reality for “customizing your Myspace background” era so stop asking, millennials. A 2017 study conducted by Young we really don’t know.

Invincibles found that millennials have a median household 8. “You're a little too obsessed with your dog.” income of $40,581 and that they earn 20-percent less than boomers did at the same stage, despite being better educated. First of all, that’s my son, and that was rude. Secondly, since this generation is taking their time when it comes to having And that’s not even touching on the wildly inflated housing children, dogs and cats are the next best thing if plants aren’t market. So, yeah, it’s much harder to save money for a home cutting it. Give us all the matching Halloween costumes and when you’re still paying off ridiculously high student loans. canine ring bearers!

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BOOMER TRAVEL 10 Today’s BoomeR

I hadn’t anticipated this less obvious yearning.

By Rachel Levitt, Fodor’s Travel

here are the obvious (yet no less special) reasons that most people enjoy travel. Exquisite and unusual sights to see. Delighting in new food and drink. Feeling present and in the moment. The opportunities to talk to people you might not otherwise meet. Embracing adventure.

under-5-years-old-vaccine in sight, life in Los Angeles, a city that was once the epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S., meant not just relinquishing travel, but generally withdrawing from public and social spheres.

As a travel writer by trade, I never considered what life might be like without the possibility of exploring the world. In my adult life, I’ve never not had a trip planned, even if it’s just a mere whiff of a scheme wafting through my brain. It There haven’t been too many of those for yours smells like potential. And it pushes me through truly in the last year. each day and makes me look forward to the next.

But come April 2020, the world closed up when I managed to have a baby just months prior to the pandemic burst out. And I was stuck at the pandemic’s worldwide pandemonium, and with a now-immunocompromised toddler and no home. And I am…still there.

happen. There’s that golden time between making a decision to go somewhere and executing it that is full of magic and wonder. The space between the steadfast decision to do something and the actual doing, offers unbridled possibilities and creates a space for daydreaming.

It’s that “something is going to happen” feeling that worms its way into my daydreams. The potential for adventure, for expansion, for connection—just a few of the meaningful ways that travel can induce feelings of euphoria. Sure, travel can have its foibles, from the inconvenient to the terrifying, but not in my daydreams. In my daydreams, stray kittens lead me over cobblestone paths on a street art tour of Removing the thrill of escape from my daily grind quickly Istanbul. Autumn fog rolls down the mountains of Japan, curdled my calendar. For my family and me in the last year, tumbling over red bridges and wisping around pagodas. there’s been a lot of the same sights, the same food, the Warm waves rush up to soak my feet over pink or black or same people, and a construct of time that has been utterly white or red sands. Strangers are always kind, friends are shattered. I finish each day grateful for my family’s good always celebrating. In my daydreams, I am always styled health, yet longing for all of those obvious and special reaand polished, the trains are always on time, the weather is sons that people enjoy traveling. But there’s one more not always perfect. There is so much to be open to. There are so so obvious thing I love about travel that I hadn’t realized many possibilities for things to be marvelous. that this murder-rampage, border-closing, virus-spreading, I was surprised to realize that daydreams had slipped from locked-down pandemic had stolen from me. my routine. I’m not sure why my imagination needs some And that is the magic of the daydream. sort of guaranteed action (i.e. a booked flight) in order to The daydreams begin almost immediately after I’ve booked function at peak fantasy. But even with the lack of strict a plane ticket, or otherwise solidified a departure date. For structure and a more comfortable space to occupy at all the briefest of moments, my stomach drops and my toes times, I couldn’t visualize stone kasbahs against shifty tingle. Here we go, my brain says. Something is going to desert dunes, or imagine turning my collar up against the Today’s BoomeR 11

light Irish rain, or conjure the energy of motorbikes roaring across Ho Chi Mihn City, or remember the tropical smells of frangipani and coconut. Everything felt gray and flat and far, far in the distance.

mind-numbingly boring. My loving and locked-down family helps me to maintain my sanity, but routine has never been my strong suit. I thrive in challenges. I’m an explorer, by golly, a jetsetter, and I needed to get out of my setting.

I couldn’t put my finger on it at first. Why had my wanderlust gone into hibernation? My bucket list is miles long, yet I couldn’t find myself lost in its many options. They were too removed and opaque for me to envision. The details were missing. Those details, I’d come to realize, solidified

So my daughter and I started Adventure Every Day. We pretend to be tourists to our neighborhood, to our city. We stop to check out every nook and cranny, pause to chat with the locals (our neighbors), we buy food from random vendors, and seek out the urban beauty of Los Angeles.

These are the central skills it will take for my daughter to someday be a good traveler when the world resumes. It starts basic. Look around: what do you see and why does it look that way?

How does it feel to have the sun shine on your face or a cool breeze on your skin? Stop and take it in. Say hello to fellow humans, friendly animals—it’s exhilarating to be in the presence of others. Where have you been, where are you going, and how does one inform the next? Block by block, we practice.

There’s no countdown of days until the end of the pandemic. There’s no time the brainstorm and made it easier to envision my of departure date to plan for. The pandemic has me wayfaring. Though I did not particularly enjoy the searching for something I didn’t realize I’d had in spades perfunctory, requisite undertakings of trip planning, I before: the thrill of anticipation, the promise of possibility. suddenly craved the tangibility of tickets, schedules, and The quixotic daydreams of travel are rivaled only by the concrete plans. What was it about setting the intention to promise of love. There is so much future to look forward to. travel that I missed?

Anticipation is so much more than being excited about That’s when I realized that establishing a plan to travel some impending fun. Anticipation breeds hope. Hope serves more than its incredibly valuable logistical function. makes us idealistic and that’s why I believe travel has such It provides a space for imagination. Planning allows our a profound impact on our individual lives. When we look creative mind to run wild with potential—we can be free to forward to the future, the human heart has a tendency to dream up what a trip might be like, carefree of troubles be its best self: generous, thoughtful, positive, optimistic. and with luck on our side. What will it be like? What will I Without the promise of an exciting future, the present can see? What might give me goosebumps, make me gasp, fill feel far less momentary and far more intractable, and that my heart, and push me to act bravely? Travel gives us sort of inflexibility can make a person stiff. opportunities to expand our limits by providing a space Until I am able to really loosen up again and daydream outside of our routine. with abandon, I’ll keep teaching my kid how to stretch her I understand that my personal pandemic restrictions have wings. Maybe when she sees how exciting life is out there, been, at the least, fairly unique, thankfully benign, and she’ll start to daydream about what’s to come.

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COVID-19 Updates:

U.S. Is Lifting Restrictions on Vaccinated International Travelers in November It's all happening November 8.

By Apeksha Bhateja, Fodor’s Travel

spokesperson said.

This summer, Americans were able to fly to Europe, but Europeans haven’t been allowed to enter the U.S. since March of 2020. The U.S. travel ban has kept the international borders closed for visitors from the UK, Ireland, the Schengen region, Iran, Brazil, South Africa, and India. For weeks, European countries have been mounting pressure on the U.S. to open its borders and reciprocate after the EU lifted its ban, but the administration has been firm on its decision until now.

A crucial part of the new policy is contact tracing.

Airlines will be required to collect information such as phone numbers and email addresses for all passengers flying into the U.S. “This will enable CDC and state and local public health officials to follow up with inbound travelers and those around them as someone has potentially been exposed to COVID-19 or other pathogens. It will also strengthen our public health surveillance system against any future public health threats,” Zients said in September.

The White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients announced on September 19 that the ban will be lifted for fully vaccinated travelers in early November and today the White House finally confirmed the exact date: November 8.

The land borders to Mexico and Canada will also be opened next month to fully-vaccinated travelers.

It’s definitely good news for travelers, entrepreneurs, and family members who have been locked out of the International visitors will again be allowed to enter the country for months. People have been requesting the United States, so long as they have proof of vaccination administration on Twitter to announce the dates for and a negative test result. “Vaccines continue to show weeks, so they can make travel arrangements and that they’re highly effective, including against the delta reunite with their loved ones because the demand is expected to drive up the prices of tickets. variant, and the new system allows us to implement strict protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” According to the World Travel & Tourism Council, the Zients said last month.

U.S. has lost $198 million per day on inbound Children who are not eligible to get the shot will most likely be exempted.

international travel spend due to travel bans.

This move will have a positive impact on the economy.

All travelers will need to get tested within three days of The transatlantic market is highly lucrative for European and American airlines and British Airways’ departure—a mandate that the country has London-New York route used to bring $1 billion in implemented since January this year even for its revenues before the pandemic. So along with citizens. Contact tracing and mask mandates will be enforced too, while mandatory quarantine will not be passengers, airlines also rejoiced in the change in policies and shares of British Airways, Lufthansa, Air required. “This policy is guided by public health, France-KLM, American Airlines, Delta and United rose. stringent and consistent,” a White House Today’s BoomeR 13

A record number of Americans are quitting their jobs. Here’s how they make money after they quit.

Getting by in ‘The Great Resignation’: How people who quit or retired are making ends meet.

Many are counting on their savings and Social Security.

Marasco used her severance package to pay off her mortgage.

She then lived off her savings and state unemployment benefits through 18 months of unsuccessful job-searching

By Karla L. Miller, The Washington Post before realizing that her earlier goal of working In discussing the surge of workers quitting or retiring full-time until age 70 no longer appealed to her. during the coronavirus pandemic, one question that I Marasco now gets by on Social Security and a 401(k) keep hearing, and that I asked last week, is: How are retirement plan. people who abruptly quit or retired from their jobs Kathleen Corcoran had concerns about giving up the getting by financially? “golden handcuffs” of a full-time job in the high-cost Some retirees said that although the pandemic D.C. metro area when she retired from her nudged them into retirement faster than they communications career. But no full-time salary could expected, it also brought relief from the expenses allow her to buy what she really wanted: time. incurred in pursuing their careers.

Giving up income is stressful, but “then you “I [no longer] need to buy clothes or shoes for work, realize some of that money is going for things to fill the gas tank three times a week, pay for parking, de-stress you” from work, Corcoran told me in a etc.,” wrote Sandy Marasco in an email. After being phone interview. “Once I sat down and looked at the laid off from her pharmaceutical industry job in numbers, I realized [retiring] was doable — and what Cambridge, Mass., early during the pandemic, I was getting in return was time to pursue things I really wanted to pursue,” such as seeing friends, writing, reading and volunteering. She now teaches part-time, a job she finds “rewarding in a way that goes beyond a paycheck.”

A former office manager in Laurel, Md., who withheld her name because of tension with her former boss, has no regrets about retiring early, even though it meant getting less in Social Security: “If I had waited until 70, I would have received $300 more per month.” But, she said, she weighed her sanity against that financial loss and “decided to take the leap. I’m so happy that I did.”

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Of course, retirement is still a long way off for many people. Some have been reassessing what they want from their jobs versus what they need.

off 16 years later, it allowed Garcia the flexibility to take freelance and part-time work when full-time jobs were unavailable.

Jason S. of New York City, who asked for partial anonymity out of respect for relatives in government who share his surname, was laid off from one contract position and terminated from the next after he had protested being called into the office for a job he’d been told would be 100 percent remote.

One common theme among the people who shared their stories with me: They don’t take their relative fortune for granted.

Although his wife works and they have six months of savings, Jason’s being out of work is taking a big bite out of their finances, “so this is not sustainable even in the medium term,” he told me in an email. His job-search priorities are shifting: “Taking a lesser-paying job with health insurance over a no-benefits [contract job] would be a no-brainer for me now.”

“One common theme among the people who shared their stories with me: They don’t take their relative fortune for granted.”

And some people have been able to weather income loss thanks to careers that conditioned them to prepare for the worst. Marlen Garcia, of Chicago, told me via email how at age 26 she was denied a $5,000 raise with her promotion at a newspaper because of company pay policy, and how she saw other journalists lose jobs and opportunities “on the whims of bosses.”

“I have been very lucky and am thankful for that,” Marasco wrote. “I also do what I can for those less fortunate.” Marasco opted not to collect the federal government’s expanded pandemic unemployment benefits.

Garcia recognizes that luck and the economy were important in shoring up her finances. “I had less than $5,000 in loans when I finished college in 1993.

[Graduates today] have tens of thousands of dollars in debt. Rents are crazy. Too many homes are unaffordable. I don’t see how they can do it.”

Even before the pandemic, rising costs of living — rather, costs of surviving — have left most low- and middle-income workers unable to build a sizable savings cushion or anchor themselves with real estate and other investments. For those with student loans, medical debt and dependents, the footing was already treacherous. Enter the pandemic, and the ground is crumbling.

I know for every success story I heard, there are many more invisible struggles — people with no pensions, partners or pandemic relief to help them get by. I can only assume they’re consumed with making ends meet.

Reader query: Employers everywhere are saying it’s impossible to find workers. Job seekers are telling me no one’s responding to their applications — or the Garcia told her husband, “We have to be in a position work and pay are different from what was advertised.

What’s your experience? Also, if you are or work for where I can leave my job one day if that happens to an employer that has been retaining workers by doing me.” They bought a small house and “ate a lot of bologna” so they could afford to pay extra toward the things right, I’d like to hear about it principal each month. When the mortgage was paid at work.advice.wapo@gmail.com.

Today’s BoomeR 15

The NEW Economy: Uncomfortable inflation is here, and it’s changing the economy American families and businesses are altering their habits as they increasingly believe high prices are here to stay

By Heather Long, The Washington Post

can see their wages aren’t buying as much with so One of the biggest problems with inflation right now many everyday necessities costing more, including is not the ships stuck at the Port of Los Angeles or the rent. That leads companies to hike prices more, then price of a pack of chicken thighs or even how difficult workers turn around and demand another pay raise.

Economists call this phenomenon a “wage-price it is to nab a reasonably priced rental car — it’s spiral.” It often leads to sustained high inflation that what’s happening in Americans’ minds as their forces the Fed to step in to stop it. Alternatively, expectations shift about how much goods will cost consumers could pull back on spending as they worry going forward. about high prices, another scenario that is harmful to News this week that U.S. inflation is running at a 13- the economy and could lead to a recession. year high of 5.4 percent confirmed what many Americans already know as they juggle their budgets: Already, there are signs of a psychological shift starting. Numerous polls and consumer sentiment Food, energy and shelter costs are all rising rapidly, surveys show inflation has become a top concern for adding many Americans. And people are predicting inflation to the strain Americans were already dealing with will stay high. from the higher costs of hard-to-find goods such as “During the past five months consumers have cars, dishwashers and washing machines. become much more concerned about rising inflation While policymakers debate how long higher prices and slower wage growth and their negative impact on will last — what “transitory” inflation means — the their living standards,” the University of Michigan real question is how American families and Surveys of Consumers said when releasing its businesses are going to react to this new era of September data. And this week, the New York Fed’s uncomfortable inflation. What is the psychological consumer survey showed Americans now predict 4 impact of this jump in so many prices after years of percent inflation for the next year and 3.4 percent for low inflation? Are people’s behaviors going to shift? the next three years — the highest levels since the Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic said survey began in 2013. this past week his main concern is that the longer Businesses large and small are now openly predicting inflation remains high, the more likely it is that higher inflation will stick around, signaling new businesses and workers begin to believe that inflation assumptions about the future. will not come back down. Then they begin to alter FedEx recently announced one of its heftiest price their habits. increases in years. Pepsi said this month the company Workers are demanding pay increases because they expects “to be able to price through the inflation that 16 Today’s BoomeR

we’re facing,” meaning it can largely pass it along to customers.

perks. Over the summer, they shut the shop down entirely and took everyone to the zoo. But there is little to indicate the hiring and retention pressures Food and spice company McCormick called this the “highest inflationary period of the last decade or even will ease soon. She’s also faced some frustration from customers, especially from regulars who notice when two.” The company’s chief financial officer, Michael R. Smith, warned, “While we continue to expect a mid their orders suddenly cost more.

-single-digit increase in inflation for the year, it has “We just went through a 5 percent price increase, moved higher and is now approaching a double-digit and we’re getting pushback on it,” she said. increase in the fourth quarter.”

Across the country, restaurant prices are up nearly 5 Housewares and beauty-product company Helen of Troy — the company behind Oxo storage containers, Drybar hair dryers and Hydro Flask water bottles — signaled during an earnings call last week that more price increases are coming.

“We’re assuming that the inflation is not going to be transitory, and we’re positioning ourselves accordingly,” chief executive Julien Mininberg said.

There are also early signs of wage-price spirals building, especially in the restaurant sector.

Fuzzy’s Taco Shop in Wichita is about to raise menu prices for the second time this year. Operating partner Whitney Reitz said she had no choice. Over the summer, she raised starting pay from about $8 to $10 an hour to attract workers, prompting a menu price hike. Then she bumped pay up again, adding 50 cents to $1 more for workers who stay a month. By the fall, starting pay was up to $12 an hour. Now another price hike is coming.

percent over a year ago, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. Rising food and housing costs accounted for more than half of the inflation jump in the past year, a sign that supply chain glitches and worker shortages are spreading to more parts of the economy with little sign of easing soon.

Fred Rosenthal, the longtime owner of Jasper’s Restaurant in Largo, Md., is facing twin problems — shortages of key foods and a difficult time getting waiters and cooks, calling it the hardest hurdle he’s faced in 50 years in the restaurant business.

About the only certainty for Rosenthal is that costs keep rising. He used to pay staffers $13 an hour. This year he is guaranteeing $20 an hour. The wage hike attracted a rush of applicants but also contributed to it costing him $100,000 to reopen the restaurant, he estimated. On top of that, he fields daily calls from his

“We’re working to finalize a third round of price increases since June 2020,” Reitz said. “A local restaurant just posted: ‘Now hiring! Starting hostess at $20 an hour.’ Just seeing that in writing put a little fear in me.”

Reitz has worked to retain employees with bonuses and Gas prices in San Francisco on Oct. 12. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

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suppliers telling him certain items aren’t available or have shot up in price.

Rosenthal said he prides himself on running a moderately priced restaurant for families, but in the past six months he has already hiked prices more than he ever has, about 5 percent.

“We’ll probably have to raise prices again, maybe twice,” he said. “We try not to raise things $3 or $4.

Instead we go up 40 or 50 cents on an item. But a family of four, when they leave the restaurant, their check is up a few more dollars. They feel that.”

Rising food, gas and rent costs hit the budgets of low- and middle-income Americans hard. While wages have been rising at the fastest pace in decades, the gains have been eaten up entirely by rising costs, Labor Department data shows. This prompts workers to ask for more pay.

point to used cars and lumber prices, which, while still high, have come back down from their peaks a few months ago.

“It’s similar to a hurricane hitting,” said Dartmouth economist Danny Blanchflower, a former member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee. He predicted a “period of adjustment” with prices then coming back down. He urged the Fed not to overreact by swiftly raising interest rates, a move that typically triggers a recession.

As these debates play out on Wall Street and among policymakers, small-business owners are altering their routines and shifting their expectations.

“It’s painful. This is truly psychological. Diesel is near $4 a gallon now, which means truckers are paying $1,000 to fill up a tank,” said Lee Klass, one of many independent drivers who own and operate their own “The wage-price spiral has already begun,” said econ- truck. “It takes three fill-ups to drive from the East to West Coast. That really eats into your profits.” Before omist Sung Won Sohn of Loyola Marymount the pandemic, it used to cost about $750 to fill up.

University and SS Economics. “In the financial markets and the economy, the biggest long-term Klass said diesel prices are the dominant topic of problem we have is inflation. You can’t turn the conversation at truck stops. Despite the need for inflation rate on and off.” more truck drivers, some independent truckers are starting to hesitate to take certain loads, with gas And some economists see these widespread price prices so high and fuel surcharges not yet adjusting. increases as a sign that the psychological dynamics are already shifting.

One clear sign that consumers are getting spooked by higher prices is Americans’ plans to buy houses and cars are at the lowest levels since the early 1980s, according to the University of Michigan Survey of Consumers. There’s concern about whether that pullback will also spill into other industries.

However, other economists argue that what is occurring now is still largely related to the pandemic, with a surge in demand for goods causing supply bottlenecks and the need to rehire workers much faster than anyone expected. They argue these pressures will subside in the coming months. They 18 Today’s BoomeR

“If the rates aren’t good enough, people just won’t do it,” Klass said.

Across the country, families and business owners have already adjusted their thinking for an extended period of uncomfortable inflation.

“We’re going to see inflation that is meaningfully higher than the Fed wants through 2022 and maybe into 2023,” said Adam Posen, president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics. “All it takes is a little bit of wage pressure to get you inflation that lasts longer than six to nine months.”

It’s hard to reverse psychological and behavioral shifts.

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BOOMER HEALTHY EATING: Clay Cooker Chicken & Veggies with Besar Cooking in clay is one of those things you’ve got to do to truly get the gist of.

Like cast iron, clay adds a certain je ne sais quois to a dish that you can’t get any other way – it’s a subtle earthiness and added depth that’s truly captivating.

Romertopf cookers are a great way to get into clay, and there’s no better dish to make in one that chicken. It’s truly difficult to end up with anything other than one of the juiciest, most delicious things you’ll ever cook – that alone is worth the entry price.

While the inside of the body of a Romertopf is glazed, the lid is not – The porous, soaked clay and higher oven heat, (425° F rather than 325°) combine to provide a steam/roast cook – the secret behind that super juicy bird.

The next joyful surprise is this – literally no oil, stock, or water need be added

20 Today’s BoomeR

By ww

y Chef Eben Atwater ww.urbanmonique.com

to end up with a succulent chicken.

Same goes for veggies you to add to the dish – the steam/roast process will generate copious quantities of juice and rendered fat without help.

Fact is, you can add nothing but salt and pepper and still come out with stunning results, but for this dish, I wanted more – a nod to Middle Eastern cuisine was in order, since clay cookery is ubiquitous there – as are stunningly delicious spice blends. Besar (also Bzar and Bezar) was the perfect choice.

2 teaspoons whole Green Cardamom pods 2 teaspoons ground Ginger 2 teaspoons ground Hatch Chile (hot or mild as you prefer) 1 teaspoon whole Fennel seed 1 teaspoon Turmeric 1/2 teaspoon ground Nutmeg Combine all ingredients in a small mixing bowl.

There are variants of besar in several cuisines, of which I favor the Emirati style – it’s a stunningly aromatic blend with deep notes of warm spices and a touch of heat. Besar is wonderful with chicken, but might even be better with fresh roasted veggies – a win-win for this dish. Often used to spice ghee, it’s fantastic dry on everything from squash to soups, stews, and flatbreads.

This is my swing at the blend.

Urban Besar 2 Tablespoons whole Black Peppercorns 2 Tablespoons whole Cumin seed 2 Tablespoons whole Coriander Seed 2 teaspoons stick Cinnamon, (about 1/2” or so)

In a heavy skillet over medium heat, toast spices until golden brown and deeply fragrant, stirring steadily with a fork to avoid scorching.

Remove blend from skillet and return to a bowl to cool – allow 30 minutes or so for things to marry further.

Leave the blend whole and store in airtight glass until you need it – that’ll keep everything fresh. I prefer making smaller batches like this more often, rather than storing larger quantities long-term.

Urban’s Clay Cooker Chicken & Veggies with Besar 3-4 fresh Chicken Leg Quarters 3-4 Gold Potatoes 2 Carrots 2-3 stalks fresh Celery with Leaves 1/2 small Sweet Onion

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3 Tablespoons ground Besar spice blend 3 finger pinch of Kosher Salt Soak your clay cooker (including the lid) for 30 minutes prior to use. (If this is your first use of the cooker, follow makers directions for seasoning to the letter!)

Rinse, end trim and cut celery stalks into roughly 5” chunks – remove and reserve leaves.

Arrange veggies in a solid base layer in your cooker.

Sprinkle very lightly with salt, then with a teaspoon of besar.

Arrange leg quarters evenly across the top of the veggies, skin side up.

Toss on the celery leaf, then lightly sprinkle with salt, and liberally dust with the remaining besar.

You will start with a cold oven, to avoid thermal shock and cracking of your clay cooker.

Rinse and peel potatoes, then halve or quarter, depending on size.

Rinse, end trim, and cut carrots into roughly 3” chunks.

Peel, end trim, and quarter onion.

Cover the dish and slide into a middle rack position in a cold oven.

Set oven temp to 425° F and let ‘er rip for 45 minutes.

Carefully remove the hot cover from your cooker and check internal temp on the chicken – you should be around 150°-155° F. Cook for 10-15 minutes more, uncovered, to allow things to brown and crisp up a bit.

Carefully remove cooker from oven and allow a 5-10 minute rest.

Serve piping hot, with just some flatbread, or rice, or couscous, or whatever you love best. “Enjoy with health.” ‫بالعافية‬ 22 Today’s BoomeR

F– (Forget) Being Old: 0n Board A Boom’n Boomer Music Cruise: Report from The Bridge John A. Vardalas, CAE/CUDE Founder/CEO The American BoomeR Group What has 1600 legs and is groovy? …A Concerts At Sea baby boomer music cruise! That’s what this boomer experienced just before the global Covid-19 pandemic hit in early 2020. And I must say that this “Woodstock-on-the-waves” adventure in the Caribbean did not disappoint!

I was one of 800 plus baby boomers who experienced the 27th Annual Concerts at Sea January 19-26th, 2020.

more cruise lines were offering new music-themed cruises.

One can cruise for a week with classic rock-era bands and artists ranging from the Beach Boys to the Fifth Dimension to Herman’s Hermits to America providing the live soundtrack for your high sea adventure.

Currently there are more than 25 such music-themed cruises being offered each year

with more being planned postpandemic.

From sailings that celebrates the rock n’ roll of the ‘50s, to the ‘90s cruises with boy bands onboard, there are lots of options to help one get lost in their favorite flavor of blasts from the past.

Like normal cruising, music cruises allow you get to enjoy the benefits of cruising but with more of an emphasis on daily music retro bands and artists performing sometimes two to three times during a day.

While stopping at great ports of call (Bahamas, Virgin Islands, St. Maarten), cruisers let it all hang out for a week, rocking the boat onboard the Regal Princess to retro music, clothing, and dancing.

In addition, the chance to get up close and personal with several of the musicians from a variety of bands performing their classic hits for the weeklong cruise was also a far-out value-added experience.

Baby boomer cruising is one of the largest markets in the travel industry and now music theme cruising has exploded over the last five years. Up until the COVID pandemic hit, Today’s BoomeR 23

favorite retro musicians.

On my music cruise sponsored by Concerts at Sea, we had a lineup of acts from the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s.

The artists featured included The Lettermen, Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Grassroots, The Yardbirds, The Flamingos, Peter Rivera from Rare Earth, Tom Garrett of The Classic IV, JR & The Stingrays, Ron Dante, Jackson Haney, as well as Onboard DJ’s and Host, Jay Michaels.

All performers and events during the cruise were staged

by Producer, Tammy Selee, and the Concerts At Sea staff kept the vibe going all week long, exceeding this boomer’s On our Princess Regal ship, featured performers were in expectations. In addition, the opportunity to connect, the ship’s main theater and all other performances were network, and bond with other like-minded boomers from held in smaller more intimate venues like lounges or wine around the world was great, all wrapped around a bistros so you can really get close to the music and common interest that shaped our generation—the music! interact with the artists.

Another very kool value added, are the opportunities to be part of open meet-and-greet sessions where you can talk with your favorite artists, get pictures, and have them sign autographs. Many fans also bring their saved vinyl 45’s and albums onboard to get them signed by their

This boomer will be looking forward to his next music festival on the water adventure!

Note From Johnny V: The next Concerts At Sea music cruise will be offered in January 2022! Check out

concertsatsea.com John A. Vardalas, CAE/CUDE CEO/Founder of The American BoomeR Group, is a professional speaker/ business consultant. He can be reached at jvardallas@aol.com and visiting TheAmericanBoomer.com 24 Today’s BoomeR

Old Enough for Sex : How Boomers Changed American Family Life (By Getting Divorced) Jill Filipovic on the Generation That Changed Everything In the 1950s, when most Baby Boomers were kids, the rules were pretty clear: Sex was for marriage (or, okay, a little before marriage, so long as you planned on getting married), marriage was the first step to building a family, and the ultimate goal was to have children within the confines of marriage. “Beneath these notions was a deep fear of women’s economic and sexual independence,” wrote Elaine Tyler May, author of Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era, in a 1988 Los Angeles Times article:

of Americans had done (outside of Baby Boomers’ own parents): they got married later than their parents did, and they had fewer children.

Boomers also had more sex, and with more people. Which doesn’t mean Americans were prudish before—researcher Jean Twenge found that folks in the Greatest Generation averaged three sexual partners apiece, so Grandma wasn’t as prim as she might have seemed. But Boomers really went for it. The average Boomer woman had ten sexual partners in her adult life. Boomer men? Twelve.

Some of these partners are likely from post-divorce dating (or during-marriage dating), but a whole lot of Boomers dated around before settling down, and sex was a part of The best way to contain their career aspirations was to professionalize homemaking; the best way to contain their that. While 83 percent of Silent Generation adults were sexual emancipation was to encourage early marriage and married when they were between 25 and 37 years old, just to sexualize the home. Female sexuality unleashed within about 65 percent of Boomers were—a pretty significant marriage would strengthen the family; outside marriage, it dip. And Boomers who went to college were less likely to be married at that age than those with a high school was seen as a destructive force. degree or less.

Sexual satisfaction was important, but marriage was its proper container. Sexual profligacy was treacherous, and This new sexual openness shocked older adults. A 1966 U.S. News & World Report story asked, “Is the Pill unmarried, sexually active women were a danger to themselves and others: In movies, the femme fatale was a regarded as a license for promiscuity? Can its availability to devious Russian spy; in postwar propaganda, the allegedly all women of childbearing age lead to sexual anarchy?” disease-ridden “victory girls” could leave a nice young man Pearl S. Buck, the famous novelist who penned The Good returning from war with more than a fond memory; in real Earth, wrote in Reader’s Digest that the Pill’s “potential effect upon our society may be even more devastating life, a woman who gave birth out of wedlock might very than the nuclear bomb.” well find herself ostracized and socially isolated.

The Pill did indeed allow women to have sex without quite Then in 1960, just before the oldest Baby Boomers came of age, came the Pill. Maybe you know what happens next. as much fear of pregnancy. But whether it unleashed sexual anarchy is another question. Yes, older Boomers Baby Boomers were the first American generation to come were the generation of “free love” and, a little later (with into sexual maturity with available and extremely reliable younger Boomers participating), swinging. But the cultural birth control fully in women’s hands. They were also the tides were already shifting in that direction pre-Pill. In the first American generation to see such a rapid immediate hangover after the early 1950s, young women transformation of gender roles and sexual life. The sexual were staying single longer. They were going to school and revolution spurred on by the contraceptive pill and, later, working in increasing numbers. The cultural emphasis on legal abortion redefined the American relationship with virginity before marriage was in recession. sex, and relations between men and women. As Baby Did the Pill come into being just as these changes were at a Boomers became adults, they did what every generation Today’s BoomeR 25

tipping point? Yes. Did it add a little velocity to what was already accelerating? Sure. But the sexual revolution would likely have happened in some capacity or another even without the birth control pill. What the Pill did was drive down what could have been astronomical rates of unintended pregnancy and, by extension, maternal mortality and unsafe (and until 1973 mostly illegal) abortions.

“If anything really sets Boomer marriages apart, it’s divorce—they do a lot of it.”

issues,” author, historian, and director of research and public education for the Council on Contemporary Families Stephanie Coontz told me. “This was a generation that wasn’t completely new to sex but was certainly much more ambivalent about the role sex played in your life and when you did it. For women in particular, just because of biology in addition to the cultural pressures, you needed to be aware you could get pregnant, and it was safest to only have sex with someone you thought would marry you if you did get pregnant. All these things have changed for the next generation.”

Over the next decade, sexual mores in America liberalized even further. Decoupling sex from pregnancy allowed American women to live more independent lives than ever Single women had already been inching their way into cities, and while nearly all young women 16 to 21 said they before. The pop culture landscape reflected this profound wanted to be married, most by 22, that cultural corset was shift. In 1961, Mary Tyler Moore made a splash as Dick Van loosening. In 1962, Helen Gurley Brown’s Sex and the Single Dyke’s television wife, Laura Petrie, a stay-at-home mother who had met and married him at seventeen. By 1970, she Girl didn’t so much invent a new category of person—the single, sexually active, financially independent woman—as was the lead character, Mary Richards, in The Mary Tyler Moore Show. With an iconic toss of her hat in the air, she cast a spotlight on a nascent force. By the mid-1960s, the United States was, as Time magazine put it in 1964, in “an became the joyful single career woman forging her own era in which morals are widely held to be both private and path. relative, in which pleasure is increasingly considered an In 1973, the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade and almost constitutional right rather than a privilege, in which legalized abortion nationwide. That newfound right gave self-denial is increasingly seen as foolishness rather than women veto power over pregnancies and with it the ability virtue.” But the 1960s sexual revolutionaries, the magazine to delay marriage and motherhood until they felt ready. was quick to point out, weren’t quite the radicals they The relationship between the feminist movement and thought they were: “In the 1920s, to praise sexual freedom these legal and scientific advances (abortion rights, the Pill) was still outrageous; today sex is simply no longer was a mutually reinforcing one. It was feminists who shocking . . . Adrift in a sea of permissiveness, they have pushed for the invention and then accessibility of the Pill; it little to rebel against.” was feminists who pushed for abortion rights. Reliable The “they” here? Boomers.

In hindsight, sex in 1960s America doesn’t exactly sound hedonistic. “‘Nice girls don’t’ is undoubtedly still the majority view, but definitely weakening, as is ‘No nice boy will respect you if you go to bed with him,’” Time wrote in that same 1964 article. A nice girl could still be nice and have sex with the man she planned to marry, or maybe even a guy she was going steady with, because “the loss of virginity, even resulting in pregnancy, is simply no longer considered an American Tragedy.”

“This was a generation that was new to these kinds of 26 Today’s BoomeR

contraception and safe, legal abortion in turn enabled women to be increasingly independent and feministminded. Yes, women were already heading to college in larger numbers than in previous decades, but it’s hard to imagine that quite so many would have been able to stay in school and in the workforce without this degree of control over their reproductive lives.

These shifts were revolutionary, but sexual freedom didn’t mean that Boomers forewent marriage. They just married a little later than their parents. By 1975, the average newlyweds were 23 and a half (men) and 21 (women) on their wedding day; through the early 1980s, when the tail

end of the boom babies were marrying in significant (and women who first divorce before age 50 and then numbers, the average groom was 25 and the average bride divorce for a second time after 50 are left with the least). was 23.

Susan Brown, a sociology professor Bowling Green and the center’s co-director, told Bloomberg News that, according But they were also divorcing. to the center’s yet-to-be-published research, gray divorce When young marriage was practically required for social halves women’s wealth. Older women also experience acceptance, a lot of young people settled into mediocre or more than twice the household income decline older men even bad marriages. Maybe you were in a just-okay do when they divorce—and about twice the decline youngmarriage with someone you didn’t like all that much and to er women experience (young divorced men see little impact whom you weren’t particularly attracted, but the on their household income). relationship was a vehicle to an acceptable middle-class These same over-50 women, Brown said, recover neither life; maybe you were married to someone who was their pre-divorce wealth nor their previous standard of intolerable, cruel, or even abusive. As the expectation of living. This is in part because Boomer women were more marriage as a social requirement waned, divorce rates likely to work part-time or not at all—they were caring for initially skyrocketed. By the time Millennials entered the kids so their husbands could work full-time. But that adulthood, marriage was no longer a required steppingdepressed their earnings, leaving them much more stone to an acceptable adult life. We may marry less financially vulnerable later in life. Brown and her fellow frequently, but so far, our marriages are more stable researchers found that 27 percent of women over the age because of it. of 63 who are either gray-divorced or never married live in poverty. For men in that same demographic, the poverty rate is just 11 percent.

“Boomers—the same generation that came of age with the Moral Majority, founded in 1979—are the generation with the least stable marriages in American history.”

Roughly one in three Boomers is unmarried. Widowhood and never marrying in the first place play a role, but declining Boomer marriage rates are mostly because of divorce. Boomers are the first generation that has increased its divorce rate as the cohort aged into their fifties and beyond, making Boomers—the same generation Boomers can’t say the same. If anything really sets Boomer that came of age with the Moral Majority, founded in marriages apart, it’s divorce—they do a lot of it. Older 1979—the generation with the least stable marriages in Boomers brought the nation a glut of divorce in the 1970s American history. and a national divorce rate that peaked in 1980. While younger generations of Americans divorce less often, Excerpted from OK Boomers just keep splitting up into middle and even old Boomer, Let’s age. While dissolving these marriages might be for the best, Talk, published by One divorce is financially hard on Boomer women in particular.

Signal Publishers, a The National Center for Family & Marriage Research at division of Simon & Bowling Green State University found that while divorced Schuster, Inc. Copyright © men over fifty have slightly better than a coin’s toss chance 2020 by Jill Filipovic. of remarrying, only about a quarter of divorced women over fifty tie the knot again (perhaps by choice).

Divorce is rarely financially lucrative, but women over 50 who experience these “gray divorces” see a much larger gap between their post-divorce assets and their husband’s Today’s BoomeR 27

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28 Today’s BoomeR