Avoiding the Economic Drain of Boomer Flight

Working baby boomers stand to pump an astounding $22 billion a year into Erie County’s economy in their retirement—that is, if they stick around.

Nearly half those baby boomers currently working and confident they will be able to retire are at least somewhat likely to leave New York when they exit the workforce, AARP New York found in a recent survey of Erie County voters age 50 and above.

If those boomers go, they will take more than $10 billion a year with them.

That is an economic warning shot if ever there was one. And it is real: More boomers left New York, proportionately, than any other state in 2012.

Baby boomers are no ordinary generation. There are more of them, with more money, than any generation to come before. In New York, over 500 boomers will turn 65 every day in the coming years, based on an AARP analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. Erie County will go from one in seven people 65 or over in 2010 to more than one in five by 2035.

So as boomers age into retirement, the impact their decisions have on their communities is magnified.

That is one of the reasons AARP New York is trying to confront potential boomer flight.

Western New Yorkers are looking for more than the Buffalo Bills, the world’s best wings and a good “beef on weck” to keep them here—though those are some strong incentives.

AARP’s survey showed plenty of Erie County’s 50+ voters are concerned about the cost of utilities, their retirement savings and their caregiving needs:

• 62 percent are at least somewhat concerned about affording utilities, 
• 86 percent do not believe the interests of residential utility customers are represented and taken into consideration when utility rate increases are proposed, and 75 percent do not believe their elected officials are doing enough to help them when home energy costs increase. 
• Among those in the workforce, 53 percent say their retirement will be delayed for financial reasons, and 25 percent lack access to a retirement savings plan through their employer.
• Half of family caregivers report “overwhelming” or “a good deal” of financial hardship, emotional, work or other stress.

With that in mind, AARP next year will press the governor and Western New York’s state legislative delegation to:

• Create an independent utility consumer advocate office—just as 40 other states have done—to fight increases in New York’s highest-in-the-continental-United States residential electric rates.
• Establish a 529-like retirement savings vehicle for the 3.6 million private sector workers in New York whose employers offer no retirement plan.
• Enact the CARE (Caregiver Advise, Record, Enable) Act to ensure New York’s 4.1 million family caregivers (including more than 100,000 in Erie County) who provide care valued at $32 billion annually to our frail elderly and disabled, are properly trained to provide post-hospital discharge care at home—helping avoid costly readmissions.

AARP’s survey showed that huge majorities of Erie County’s 50+ voters back these solutions:

• 83 percent support creating an independent utility consumer advocate office.
• 78 percent support establishing a state retirement plan.
• 94 percent (72 percent “strongly”) support the key CARE Act provision of ensuring live demonstrations to caregivers of medical and nursing tasks pre-hospital discharge.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz showed strong local leadership this fall by committing his county to join AARP’s Network of Age Friendly Communities. The network pools resources while tapping into best practices of member communities to improve “livability”—designing roadways for pedestrians as well as motorists, promoting one-story living options, and improving access to public transportation, spaces, buildings, home care services and health clinics.

The 50+ have plenty to offer Western New York’s communities, not only in purchasing power but also in brainpower, institutional memory, family ties and cultural contributions.

Now is the time for our leaders to plan for the future and make the improvements that could make the difference in whether retired Western New Yorkers stay or go.

Bill Armbruster is the associate state director for Western New York for the AARP.