The power of Primetime women!

PrimeTime women are 50-70 years old and in the prime of their lives. They are also booming in population - being part of the Baby Boomer generation and all. But do they have any money?

You betcha! They have income; they have assets; they have spending power. And this makes PrimeTime women a marketer's dream. Let's take a look.

Baby Boomer Income

Households in the middle of life have higher income than the national average. This is due to three factors:

1.     PrimeTimers are at the peak of their careers and are enjoying the highest earning power of their lives. In fact, many older households are affluent; 21% of householders age 55 to 59 have annual incomes of $100,000 or more, significantly higher than the six percent among the population as a whole.

2.     PrimeTimers are dual income households. In previous generations, there was usually only one earner per household. Among Boomers, 70% of households have two paychecks.

3.     The long-term trend towards early retirement has eased off. Today, about 50% of women and 65% of men ages 60-64 are still in the workforce. The whole notion of "retirement" is growing fuzzy, with most Boomers expecting to work for pay after their official "retirement" date.

Baby Boomer Assets and Net Worth

Yes, 50+ consumers are still bringing home the income, but, importantly, they also enjoy the greatest assets and net worth of any age group- more than double the average net worth of American households as a whole. There are a couple reasons for this:

1.     The appreciation they've captured in the value of their homes (the real-estate crash, notwithstanding), which they have generally owned longer than younger households have owned theirs.

2.     Their greater grip on the financial assets in this country. People over 50 own between 70-79% of all financial assets, depending on whether you get your numbers from Ken Dychtwald or the AARP. In addition, they control 80% of all the money in savings accounts, 62% of all large Wall Street investment accounts and 66% of all dollars invested in the stock market.

Baby Boomer Inheritances

Over the next decade or two, Boomers will be on the receiving end of the largest intergenerational transfer of wealth in history as they inherit money from their high-saving parents. Experts debate the exact number to be inherited,  but it ranges from 14-25 trillion dollars (What's a few trillion here or there? It's all in the family, right?).

And in the decade or two that follows that, Boomer women will in turn inherit from their husbands. The average age of widowhood in the United States is 67; and after she loses her husband, the widow will generally outlive him by about 15-18 years. So PrimeTime women will inherit assets from their parents, their husbands' parents and from their husbands. As financial services companies are starting to note, they will have sole control of those assets for a long time.

So, are you marketing to Baby Boomer Women?

You get the point- PrimeTime consumers have substantial income, towering net worth and significant family assets that will continue to accumulate and from which they can draw in their active midlife years and beyond, even as they continue to work throughout their "retirement." They have a heck of a lot more money than younger consumers, and once the kids' college tuition bills mercifully stop, fewer expenses as well. Often, the mortgage on their primary residence is paid off, and many are starting to think about second homes. For most-not all-the kids leave the nest at some point. Their smaller households spend less on daily expenses such as food and utilities, leaving more money to spend on their own interests and activities.

So, are you marketing to PrimeTime women? They've got the means and the time; now they need the marketing motivation.

Source: Trendsight