Insider Finance - Business - Insider Today: The boomer market boon

October 30, 2023 • 5 min read

with Dan DeFrancesco

Welcome back. If you still haven’t figured out a Halloween costume, try one of these celebrity-inspired ones that you can easily recreate. 

In today’s big story, we’re looking at why baby boomers might be your best bet toward a solid investment strategy.  

What’s on deck:

But first, what if the old dog is teaching us new tricks?

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The big story

Trade like a boomer

If you’re looking for an investment thesis to follow, start with the group that can’t stop winning: boomers.

Baby boomers have been on a nice run. They’re sitting on a considerable amount of wealth in addition to owning homes that are either largely paid off or with mortgages at rock-bottom rates. 

As a result, boomers are spending at a much bigger clip than younger generations feeling the pain from high interest rates. 

With that in mind, Bank of America has a way the rest of us can cash in on the boomer boon, writes Insider’s Aruni Soni. The bank outlined areas likely to see a boost from boomers’ spending spree, like healthcare, entertainment, and home improvement.

Bank of America

If you don’t want to invest in boomers, you could always just invest like them.

Treasurys — typically a fan favorite of retirees — are now offering yields hovering near 5%. The nearly risk-free investment looks increasingly appealing for the rest of us as more volatility hits the stock market. 

Insider’s Filip De Mott has a full breakdown of how to get in on the action. 

Bond investing might sound painfully boring to investors who came up during the meme-stock boom and are accustomed to double-digit returns. 

But the stock market has become an even riskier endeavor than in years past. A combination of Big Tech concentration and outsized reactions to unanticipated developments has made the S&P 500 more volatile than in past decades. 

Regardless of what you decide to do with your money, just don’t bank on getting more of it from your relatives. 

The perceived great wealth transfer of younger generations inheriting money from boomers is a myth. Only the wealthiest families can expect to see life-changing money passed down.

As for the rest of us, one wealth management advisor who previously spoke to Insider summed it up nicely.

“They'll often say: ‘My kids can have whatever is left over, but I'm not living my life in such a way as to try and preserve resources for them!’”

3 things in

Markets

🔔 Before the opening bell: US stock futures rise early Monday ahead of a busy week that includes a Fed rate decision, jobs report, and Apple’s earnings. 

Steven Ferdman/Getty Images

1. Mark Cuban sounds off. The “Shark Tank” investor and Dallas Mavericks Owner shared thoughts on crypto, an NFT comeback, and taxes for billionaires. These are six of his best quotes from a recent interview.

2. Investment advice from Charlie Munger, Bill Ackman, and Michael Baron. The trio of legendary investors are fans of a more concentrated portfolio, as opposed to trying to diversify. More on their investing philosophies, along with stocks they’re placing massive bets on, according to recent interviews and a book.

3. Steve Cohen weighs in on the recession chatter. The billionaire hedge fund boss and owner of the New York Mets isn’t expecting a deep recession or prolonged market downturn. Instead, he sees a “fake scare” that will only briefly spook investors.

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3 things in

Tech

Jerod Harris/Getty Images; Jenny Chang-Rodriguez/Insider

1. Linda Yaccarino is pretending that everything is just fine at X. She wrote in a blog post that the platform’s “future is bright” and listed the company’s work over the past year (it’s been one year since Elon Musk’s takeover). Yet, the achievements don’t appear to line up with outside reports.

2. Meet the career switchers taking a 10-day crash course to train for high-tech jobs of the future. Phoenix, Arizona residents are signing up for the class in droves to learn about semiconductor chips. Many hope to land a career in the industry, but program grads have had mixed success landing a job after the program.

3. Generative AI hype hasn’t translated to cloud sales. Customers don’t know whether to jump in yet. Rates of cloud-computing sales growth slowed to historic lows this year. Revenue growth slowed across the board for Microsoft, Google, and Amazon Web Services.

3 things in

Business

Arantza Pena Popo/Insider

1. Some tech execs are traveling 7.5 hours to work — one way. It would have been unthinkable pre-pandemic, when people were required to show up to the office every single day. But remote work means more and more professionals are rethinking the maximum distance they're willing to travel to the office.

2. The Taylor Swift effect: Local Kansas City shops say business is booming. Ticket sales are soaring. Vintage sales are thriving. Jewelry business is booming. The Taylor Swift effect is giving the Kansas City local economy a major bump.

3. The 14 most promising creator economy startups, according to top investors and VCs. The top startups include a buzzy newsletter platform, a formidable database, and an exclusive content platform.

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The Insider Today team

Dan DeFrancesco, senior editor and anchor, in New York City. Diamond Naga Siu, senior reporter, in San Diego. Hallam Bullock, editor, in London. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York.

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