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Barron's Cover Story: The Surprising Threat To The American Economy
Same thing, I read, is going on in Canada. Credit limits are maxed-out. Anyhow, it amuses me, the way the article uses "consumerism" as just an amoral observation or activity. There's a difference: on the one hand, buying what you need, and maybe spending extra on vacation or a night out, once in a while. On the other hand, consumerism, which is conspicuous consumption, will make you look prosperous, but it will eat your very soul and consume YOU, instead.
Those of my demographic that I know (outdoorsy Westerners & Nor'westers at/near retirement age) are seriously paring down the optional stuff; we're certainly not helping the consumer economy get even more over the top than it already is.
Discussed this with a recently-retired client. We (our wives and us) simply don't buy clothes the way we used to, and probably will buy even less into retirement. New suits, no. Dress shirts, no. Dress shoes, no. New cars, no. Same goes for many other household things. We just are not shopping nearly as much. If that is true for much of the boomer generation, it helps to explain the pickle in which the big malls find themselves. Instead, the boomers are spending dollars on more meaningful things like travel, concerts, grandkids, volunteering, etc. It's not that we are pulling money out of the stock market (we are not, contrary to what some predictions were 10-15 years ago). We are simply changing our spending habits: spending less overall and for sure not spending as much at the malls. It goes to my comments on my most recent Retirement Blog.
We are in our early 70's. We already have just about everything we need and the far greater concern is getting rid of stuff. Our kids don't want our things and they are typical of young adults today; a local consignment store has confirmed this trend. Antique prices are down considerably because the things old timers think are valuable are not valuable to today's adults.
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