AMERICA IS ON THE CUSP OF AN AGING REVOLUTION. AS 78 MILLION BABY-BOOMERS march toward retirement over the next two decades, they will redefine what it means to grow older in America. Everyone will be affected, from the workers who pay Social Security taxes to retirees faced with frozen pensions and disappearing health benefits.

Next year, the first wave of boomers turn 62--old enough to collect Social Security benefits. It's a milestone that satirist Christopher Buckley calls "Boomsday" in his new, best-selling novel by the same name. While we don't expect it to trigger generational warfare and prompt twentysomethings to storm gated golf communities, as his rollicking ...