Autonation's CEO, Mike Jackson, guest hosted part of CNBC's Squawkbox this morning. For a car salesman, as he described himself, he's a very interesting guy.
He talked at some length about the new patterns of aging spending seen in boomers. That is to say, the Americans now aging into their sixties, near retirement, are spending quite differently than did previous generations of Americans upon approaching retirement.
Essentially, he said that research with which he is familiar shows that this near-retirement generation is working at full throttle later into life, and spending like that as well. They are not slowing down.
He enumerated some examples, mostly of activity-oriented and self-indulgent purchases, such as cars, homes, electronics, etc. The point he drove home is that the impact of these very different spending patterns is causing a number of business-related disciplines to reconsider their assumptions about economic activity for the years ahead.
For instance, he noted the effect this different aged-person behavior would have on product development, calling for different feature mixes than were previously supposed for those advancing into their sixties. Additionally, their increased discretionary, luxury- and comfort-oriented spending should probably lead to changes in economists' assumptions regarding the impact of this generation on various aspects of the economy, including sector stimuli, savings rates, etc.
All in all, a rather thought-provoking appearance from Mr. Jackson. One which reminded me, per my marketing background and training, that fresh data is worth so much, in order to avoid incorrectly extrapolating trends that are no longer valid.
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