Happy birthday to me. Today I turn 48. I’m celebrating in an age-appropriate way: a trip to the physio for a stiff shoulder, then publishing some gloomy words about pensions. Being born in 1976 makes me part of what marketers called Generation X. Arguably though, the 1965 to 1980 cohort should be tagged the ‘Forgotten Generation’.
We talk and write a lot about generations and their supposed differences, in terms of attitudes and economic experiences. I’ve done my fair share of generation-journalism, but I’m not blind to its failings. I think a lot of those differences are overstated: culturally we all have more in common than the hot tales suggest. And generational commentary often compares the old – baby boomers – and the young – millennials and Gen Z.
If the forecast sounds grim, the reality will very likely be worse. What is an ‘adequate’ pension?
My lot, now aged between 44 and 64, are less noticed.
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