I’ve been called a Baby Boomer my entire life. And technically, that’s exactly what I am.
But recently, I discovered something interesting. There’s a name for people born around the time I was born.
Generation Jones.
I was born on December 31, 1959. The very last day of the 1950s. And the more I learned about Generation Jones, the more I realized that our experiences were quite different from those of the older Baby Boomers.
We didn’t necessarily enjoy all the same economic opportunities. We entered adulthood during some difficult years, worked our way through changing economies, raised families, and adapted to a world that barely resembles the one we grew up in.
And now, after all those years, we’re reaching retirement.
We made it. And I think it’s finally our time.
Not necessarily our time to get rich or live some extravagant retirement lifestyle. But our time to enjoy life, appreciate what we’ve accomplished, and make the most of the years ahead.
Watch: Generation Jones — It’s Our Time!
Generation Jones: It’s Our Time! — My personal reflections on growing up as a younger Baby Boomer and why I believe our generation still has plenty to look forward to in retirement.
What Is Generation Jones?
Generation Jones generally refers to people born between 1954 and 1965. It’s an informal generational grouping that includes the younger Baby Boomers and some people traditionally classified as Generation X.
The term was popularized by cultural commentator Jonathan Pontell, who argued that people born during these years had experiences distinct from those of the older Baby Boomers.
And I can certainly understand why.
When people talk about Baby Boomers, they often picture Woodstock, the hippie movement, the counterculture, and the social upheaval of the 1960s.
But when Woodstock happened in August 1969, I was nine years old.
I wasn’t attending music festivals or protesting the establishment. I was probably outside playing somewhere.
The older Baby Boomers experienced the 1960s as teenagers and young adults.
Those of us in Generation Jones experienced much of that decade as children.
By the time we were old enough to enter the workforce, the economic landscape had changed considerably.
And that distinction matters.
Generation Jones Didn’t Have All the Advantages of Older Baby Boomers
One of the things that interests me most about Generation Jones is the timing of our entry into adulthood.
The oldest Baby Boomers were born in 1946. Many entered the workforce during the 1960s, when the American economy was expanding and manufacturing provided substantial employment opportunities.
That doesn’t mean every older Boomer had an easy life. Far from it.
But by the time many of us in Generation Jones started working, the economy looked different.
We faced high inflation, rising interest rates, energy shortages, and recessions.
I started working as a draftsman in 1978, earning $3.80 an hour.
In 1980, I changed jobs and went to work for an elevator company making $4.10 an hour.
Those wages sound almost unbelievable today, but they were real.
I also remember buying a house when mortgage interest rates were around 10.5%.
Imagine making a major financial commitment with an interest rate like that.
Of course, houses cost considerably less back then. And younger generations face their own serious housing affordability problems today.
I’m not suggesting we had things harder than everybody else.
I’m simply saying that the experience of a Baby Boomer born in 1946 wasn’t necessarily the same as someone born in 1959.
We were part of the same official generation, but we didn’t always have the same opportunities.
We Grew Up in One World and Retired in Another
If there’s one thing Generation Jones can appreciate, it’s how dramatically the world has changed during our lifetimes.
I remember living without central air conditioning.
We had window air conditioners. And when my wife and I eventually had central air installed in one of our houses, I thought it was one of the greatest inventions ever.
Suddenly, the entire house could stay cool!
And that was just one of countless changes.
We grew up without smartphones, home computers, or the internet.
If somebody wanted to reach you, they called your house. And if you weren’t home, they tried again later.
We listened to music on vinyl records, eight-track tapes, cassettes, and eventually CDs.
We watched VCRs transform television because suddenly we could record programs and watch them whenever we wanted.
Then came personal computers, email, the internet, and smartphones.
Today, I’m sitting here making YouTube videos using technology that would have seemed like science fiction when I was growing up.
And somehow, we adapted to all of it.
That’s something I think our generation deserves a little credit for.
We’ve experienced an extraordinary amount of change, and we kept learning as we went.
We Didn’t All Arrive at Retirement With the Same Financial Resources
Here’s where I think the Generation Jones story becomes particularly relevant to retirement.
Some members of our generation have done very well financially.
They have retirement portfolios, pensions, paid-off homes, and enough savings to enjoy a comfortable retirement.
Others have had a much different experience.
Some are still working because they need the income. Others are retired but living primarily on Social Security.
And some, like me, didn’t follow anything resembling a traditional retirement plan.
I left my job at 56.
I didn’t have a large investment portfolio waiting for me. And today, my primary retirement income is Social Security.
I’ve had to make adjustments along the way.
In my article I Retired With No Savings… and Nothing Really Changed, I explain how my lifestyle adapted to my income and why having more money didn’t always change my everyday experience as much as I expected.
That doesn’t mean retirement savings aren’t important. They absolutely are.
But I think we sometimes spend so much time discussing how much money someone should have in retirement that we overlook the people who made it here without reaching those financial milestones.
They still deserve the opportunity to enjoy their retirement.
And that brings me to the message I really want to share.
Generation Jones: We’re Survivors
Think about everything we’ve lived through.
We’ve experienced inflation, recessions, changing industries, layoffs, technological revolutions, and financial uncertainty.
We’ve raised families, paid mortgages, changed jobs, and dealt with unexpected challenges.
Some of us started businesses.
Some lost businesses.
Some had successful careers, while others spent years trying to find their place.
We didn’t all travel the same road, and we certainly didn’t all arrive at the same financial destination.
But there’s something many of us have in common.
We’re survivors.
We’ve adapted, persevered, and kept moving forward.
And now, after spending decades doing what we had to do, maybe it’s time to focus a little more on what we want to do.
That’s not a message about ignoring financial responsibilities.
It’s about recognizing that life is more than work, bills, and obligations.
We’ve spent enough years letting those things define us.
Now It’s Our Time to Enjoy Retirement
One of the most interesting things about retirement is discovering that work no longer has to define who we are.
For decades, our lives revolved around schedules.
We had jobs to get to, bills to pay, responsibilities to meet, and people depending on us.
Then retirement comes along, and suddenly we’re faced with a different question.
What do I actually want to do with my time?
For some people, the answer is travel.
For others, it’s spending time with grandchildren, gardening, fishing, volunteering, or pursuing hobbies they never had time for while working.
And for some of us, it’s simply enjoying a peaceful morning with a cup of coffee and nowhere we have to be.
I’ve discovered that I don’t need an elaborate schedule or a packed social calendar to enjoy retirement.
In fact, I wrote about that in Social Life in Retirement: Please Don’t Invite Me. One of the things I value most is being able to decide how I spend my time.
And that’s the point.
A good retirement doesn’t have to look the same for everybody.
We finally have an opportunity to make more of those decisions for ourselves.
You Don’t Need a Million Dollars to Find Happiness in Retirement
I think one of the biggest problems with the way retirement is discussed today is the emphasis on enormous savings goals.
We’re constantly hearing about how much money we should have accumulated.
A million dollars.
Two million dollars.
Whatever number happens to be popular at the moment.
And certainly, having substantial retirement savings provides security and options.
But not everybody reaches retirement with that kind of money.
I didn’t.
And I’ve learned that enjoying retirement often has as much to do with managing expectations and expenses as it does with accumulating wealth.
That’s something I discuss in Simplify Life in Retirement — 6 Things I Gave Up.
Sometimes getting rid of unnecessary expenses, possessions, and obligations creates more freedom than buying something new.
I also continue experimenting with ways to earn additional income through YouTube and other projects.
As I explained in How I Hit $1,000 a Month in Retirement, building even a modest additional income stream can provide some financial breathing room.
But I’m not interested in turning retirement into another full-time job.
I spent enough years working.
Now I want to enjoy some of the freedom I’ve gained.
The Best Years of Generation Jones Don’t Have to Be Behind Us
There’s an assumption about aging that I’ve never particularly liked.
The idea that once you reach your 60s or 70s, all the exciting parts of life are behind you.
I don’t believe that.
Certainly, getting older brings challenges.
There are physical things I can’t do today that I could do twenty years ago.
I have to think a little more carefully about certain activities.
And I’m more aware that time isn’t unlimited.
But I still have places I want to visit.
I’d like to walk another portion of the Camino de Santiago.
I’d like to travel more often.
And I’d like to continue discovering new experiences without feeling like I have to spend a fortune.
I’ve also found unexpected enjoyment in creating videos and building Retired and Trying.
Ten years ago, I certainly didn’t imagine I’d be sitting here talking to thousands of people about retirement on YouTube.
But here I am.
That’s one of the things I love about this stage of life.
We don’t necessarily know what opportunities are still ahead.
In If I Could Start Retirement Over, I talk about some of the things I would do differently. One of the biggest lessons is that we don’t have to wait for perfect circumstances to start enjoying life.
There’s still time to try something new.
And I think Generation Jones needs to hear that.
Every Generation Has Its Challenges
Now, before somebody from a younger generation jumps into the comments and says, “Wait a minute. Hold my beer!”
I understand.
Younger generations face some enormous challenges, particularly when it comes to housing costs and financial security.
I’m not claiming Generation Jones had it harder than everyone who came after us.
And I’m certainly not interested in starting a competition over which generation suffered the most.
My point is that those of us born during the later Baby Boom years didn’t necessarily experience the same advantages as the older Boomers.
We came of age in a different economic environment.
We faced our own challenges.
And we found our way through them.
Hopefully, younger generations will also have the opportunity to enjoy fulfilling retirements when their time comes.
But right now, Generation Jones is reaching that stage of life.
And I think that’s worth celebrating.
We May Have Missed Their Golden Age, but We Don’t Have to Miss Our Golden Years
When I think about Generation Jones, I don’t want the conversation to be about everything we missed.
I’d rather focus on everything we still have ahead of us.
We’ve spent decades working, raising families, making sacrifices, and dealing with life’s unexpected turns.
Some of us have more money than others.
Some are healthier than others.
Some are still working, while others have been retired for years.
But we’ve made it this far.
And that means something.
We don’t need to spend the rest of our lives comparing ourselves with the older Baby Boomers or worrying about whether we achieved every financial milestone we were supposed to reach.
We can appreciate what we’ve accomplished.
We can enjoy the things we already have.
And we can look forward to the experiences that are still possible.
We may have missed the golden age of the Baby Boomers, but that doesn’t mean we have to miss the golden years of our own lives.
Generation Jones, we’ve waited long enough.
It’s our time.
Are You Part of Generation Jones?
If you were born between 1954 and 1965, I’d love to hear from you.
Did you know there was a name for our generation?
Do you feel like your experience growing up was different from that of the older Baby Boomers?
And most importantly, what does a good retirement look like to you?
Maybe you’re traveling. Maybe you’re enjoying time with family. Or maybe you’re perfectly happy sitting at home with your morning coffee.
Whatever retirement looks like for you, I’d love to hear your story.
Leave a comment below, and join the conversation.
Because retirement isn’t about living somebody else’s dream.
It’s about making the most of the life we have.
And for Generation Jones, I believe our time has finally arrived.
