Not everyone will fit nicely into these categories, but I spoke with an Airline Captain who had an interesting insight, about pilot age groups.

He opined, most pilots in their sixties are from a generation who believed Social Security would always be there and take care of them. So as a group they are not well prepared financially for retirement. They haven't saved for retirement like they needed to. They've lived large and bought expensive homes, and have many expensive hobbies. A divorce or two may have made their situation worse.

He suggested most pilots under the age of 55 grew up in an age where few believed that Social Security would survive, and that they would need to independently save for retirement.

They've become savvy at investing in the stock market and purchasing investment properties. They've lived a more modest lifestyle over the years and have saved a much larger percentage of their income.

He said the airline industry is in for a shock. Pilots who are in their fifties, many of them, could retire on their current nest egg, and many are making plans to quit flying by the time they reach 60 years old.

He thought pilots in their forties are in even better shape financially.

Many, if not most of them, will see no need to continue flying beyond their early to mid-fifties. For most of their adult life the stock market has been booming or rapidly recovering and they've had the best 20 year returns on investment in the history of the stock market.

The retirements for the airlines are going to be much higher than projected. Pilots in their 40s and 50s are well prepared to retire early. Everyone assumes Airline Pilots will fly until they are 65. It isn't going to happen.

But most pilots in their sixties today, need as many years as possible to compensate for poor financial planning. They will beg for 67 or 68.