I can see good arguments on both sides of the fence.
On the upside, indeed I’ve seen lots of boomers with fat 401k’s, paid off homes and expiring parents doing fabulously. My parents are a perfect example (despite the emotional pain of losing our beloved grandmother). Other than getting partially screwed by the Lucent pension rip-off, they are getting along fine. Getting a few hundred thou from the recent estate sale is a nice bonus.
The downside is there are lots and lots of boomers that have been forced into early retirement, seen their pensions evaporate and are counting on their home equity & 401k to bail them out. Once these start losing value at the same time (RE is already leading the way) I can easily foresee an avalanche of panic selling.
