Then we must be friends with a different set of people. The most frequent issue I hear about from fellow "boomers" is all their griping about how much of their wealth has gone south because of a divorce or two. And to be honest, if I didn't watch TV or look at the Internet, I wouldn't have the slightest clue that something was wrong with the economy.

I do hear what you're saying though, but I believe there's more boomers walking in my type shoes than the type you mentioned. A friend of mine called me from LV the other night (he lives there and always has, and he's 54). We were talking about all the troubles in LV with the foreclosures and unemployment and the hotels/condos mess etc., and he said he can't understand what all the fuss with the economy is. His words: "Rob, the casinos have tons of people in them every night, the sports bars are packed, there's lines at the sportsbooks, the strip clubs (Spearmint Rhino, etc.) are loaded all the time, and the restaurants have lines. Where's the problem?"

I'm taking that to mean there's a lot of people like me who actually prepared for retirement. I was lucky to have a wife who's done the same, and these are the type people still spending--which to me says there are more of them than anyone thinks. Naturally the news is going to focus on the problems and the gutters some people worked themselves into. No one wants to read about Joe Normal--they want to read about sufferring and dismay.