Baby Boomer

With families having flown the nest and mortgages paid off, baby-boomers are taking 'gap years' to travel the world, or taking up to six holidays a year.

A study by Mintel found that the baby-boomer generation now has more spending power than any other age group u they get through pounds 78 more a week than other age groups u and, no longer tied down by families, are taking time out to travel.

Psychologist Dr Jane Prince agrees that Carol is a good example of the baby-boomer generation which, thanks to its opportunities, has the confidence to assert itself.

A study by Mintel found the baby-boomer generation has more to spend than any other generation - the average expenditure for households of 50 to 59-year-olds is pounds 213 a week, compared with an average of pounds 135 for all age groups.

Their spending has increased by about 30% over five years, making them the most affluent group of the baby-boomer generation across Europe.

As evidence, analysts point to a 1993 Cornell University study of what baby-boomers plan to do with their $10.4 trillion inheritance.

Experts also disagree as to whether enough baby-boomers have the financial resources to trigger a surge in vacation-home demand.

She says that baby-boomers earn more today than their parents did at the same sage of life despite recent dips in national household earnings.

Are baby-boomers taking the plunge, like the Caffeys, or putting vacation homes on the back burner, like the Rosados?

"That's because air travel is cheap and so many baby-boomers are finally reaching the age where they have money to spend." Homuth estimates that baby-boomers account for one in four of his sales.