Retiring baby boomers are unlikely to sink the stock market by selling off assets, mainly because they have few assets to shed, the Government Accountability Office has found. The GAO says that, unlike previous generations, which had substantial assets squirreled away for retirement, baby boomers have fewer assets. “The good news is a meltdown [in the stock market] is unlikely,” says the GAO’s Barbara Bovbjerg. “The bad news is there is not a lot of retirement savings. Baby boomers need to think about what they’re going to retire on so the rates of return are very important.” The GAO says 5% of baby boomers account for 52% of all assets, in which case, those with massive assets most likely will “sell them slowly,” Bovbjerg told Dow Jones Newswires. As life expectancy increase, it is likely the rate of disbursement of limited resources will slow even further.
