These Are the 5 Things Boomers Will Be Splurging on in 2024

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Baby boomers, or simply “boomers” for short, make up one of the most significant generations in terms of wealth and overall spending power. Statista data shows that as of the third quarter of 2023, 51.3% of the total wealth in the U.S. was owned by members of the boomer generation. In comparison, millennials owned just 9.3% of the total wealth in the U.S. during the same period.

Incredibly, boomers hold more than half of total U.S. wealth these days. In 2024, there are five categories that boomers are projected to splurge on with their money.

What Is A Baby Boomer?

Investopedia defines “baby boomer” as a term used to describe a person born in the years 1946 to 1964. It’s indicated that the baby boomer generation makes up a substantial portion of the world’s population, especially in developed nations such as the U.S.

Splurging Is On The Rise Across All Generations

McKinsey & Company‘s recent Consumer Sentiment Survey indicated that a whopping 40% of consumers expressed an intent to splurge over the next three months. The survey respondents encompassed baby boomers, Gen Xers, millennials, and Gen Zers. A full 40% is quite a significant figure as it represents a 2% increase from the end of 2023.

Inflation Still Remains High

Despite cooling inflation which peaked in 2022 after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, CNBC reported that year-over-year inflation across all spending categories is still up about 3.2% as of February 2024. The cost of food at home is up 1%, food away from home (dining out, restaurants) is up 4.5%, and all other items minus food and energy costs are up 3.8%.

Most notably, here are two specific categories where prices are up tremendously:

• Juices and drinks: 27.2%
• Car insurance: 20.6%

The prices of almost all of these categories are above the Federal Reserve’s target 2% inflation rate. It’s clear that there’s more work to do to get prices across the board back under control. However, boomers plan to splurge on several purchase categories despite elevated costs.

Top 5 Categories That Baby Boomers Will Splurge on in 2024

Here are the top five spending categories that all generations combined — and specifically boomers — are expected to selectively splurge on in 2024, according to McKinsey & Company.

The percentages below represent the average percentages of all generations (including baby boomers, Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z) intent to splurge across the top five spending categories in descending order:

1. Restaurants, dining out, & bars: 38%
2. Groceries: 35%
3. Apparel: 34%
4. Beauty and personal care: 32%
5. Footwear: 28%

To break these percentages down further, the percentages below represent the average percentages of boomer respondents’ intent to splurge across the top five spending in descending order:

1. Restaurants, dining out, & bars: 35%
2. Groceries: 32%
3. Apparel: 24%
4. Footwear: 17%
5. Beauty and personal care: 15%

Boomer survey respondents also indicated that they plan to splurge more on travel in 2024 than any other generation that responded to the survey.

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