'Like starting college all over again': Retirees are partying harder than ever as young people abstain from booze and hookups

While Gen Z is known as the wellness generation, baby boomers (and, oftentimes, their Gen X children) are still embracing the party culture they grew up with. And, after a lifetime of working and saving for retirement, they’re enjoying life — as they should.

But lifestyle creep could hurt your nest egg and even derail your retirement. Here are a few things to be aware of.

A generational divide

Baby boomers are retiring with more money than previous generations — and living a lot longer than their own parents. Many own their homes and benefitted from decades of stock market growth. Some also have pensions, in addition to savings and Social Security.

Of course, not all baby boomers are living the high life in retirement. Some are stretched thin on a fixed income while losing their purchasing power through inflation. More than half (58%) of retirees in Schroders’ 2026 US Retirement Survey say they don’t know how long their savings will last.

And, while Gen X — as the sandwich generation, often caring for children and their aging parents at the same time — still likes to party, they’re also stretched thin financially. Gen Z, too, are worried about their financial future, faced with rising costs, growing debt and high housing prices that make homeownership feel like a distant dream.

Maybe that’s why, for several years, drinking has been on the decline among younger generations.

For example, among 18- to 25-year-olds, there’s been a decline in use of alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana, according to a 2025 survey from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). There’s also been a decrease in the use of illicit drugs such as cocaine and misuse of prescription drugs.

In part, that could be attributed to the more risk-adverse nature of younger generations, who are also having less sex than previous generations.

The same can’t be said of their parents or grandparents.

Drug and alcohol abuse is on the rise among baby boomers. So is the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

“Today, older adults are more likely to participate in the hook-up culture of casual encounters and condomless sex, which might be further encouraged by the availability of drugs for sexual dysfunction, the commonality of living in retirement communities, and the increased use of dating apps for seniors,” wrote Janie Steckenrider in The Lancet.

Indeed, the rate of STDs among those 55+ has “consistently increased and has more than doubled over the past decade,” according to the paper.

The hidden (and not so hidden) costs of partying

While baby boomer households in the U.S. control roughly $77 trillion in wealth, 71% of that is held by the top 10% of those households, according to the Pew Research Center — meaning baby boomer wealth isn’t equally distributed.

At the same time, only 40% of baby boomers aged 61 to 65 are financially ready for retirement, according to research from Vanguard.

So, retirees leading a party lifestyle could inadvertently hurt their nest egg, particularly if they’re living on a fixed income or relying heavily on Social Security.

Lifestyle creep can lead to overspending and debt, which could deplete your nest egg faster than planned and leave less room for unexpected costs, such as medical care or support for adult children.

For example, a Bank of America study found that baby boomers are behind an increase in spending at bars — up 4% year-over-year and higher than any other generation. It might be surprising how much that habit can add up (try it for yourself with the NIAAA’s alcohol spending calculator).

Say you drink three beers a day at a cost of about $3 per beer. You’d be spending almost $3,300 each year on beer alone. If you buy those three beers at a bar for $7 each, that adds up to more than $7,600 a year.

There’s nothing wrong with enjoying your golden years — so long, of course, that you’re not putting your nest egg at risk.

And these days, your nest egg might already be taking a hit from rising healthcare and long-term care costs, to inflation that’s eating away at your purchasing power.