File this one under “bad financial management ideas.” Fidelity Investments Life Insurance Co. forecasts rising use or reverse mortgages by Baby Boomers–in part to support their lifestyles. Stephen Deschenes, an executive vice president at Fidelity, tells Investment News are more aggressive in the way they use financial assets, and less frugal than generations that came before. “When you think about the baby boomers burning the candle at both ends, [will they tap] their home equity to eat out more often? I think [so] absolutely,” he told the magazine, which circulates to financial planners. Reverse mortgages–available to homeowners age 62 and higher–are gaining popularity quickly as a way to tap home equity and stretch retirement income.

The Federal Housing Adminstration reports this week that originations totaled 76,276 in the 12 months ended September 30th last year compared with the previous 12-month period. That number is based on the number of loans insured by FHA (around 90 percent of the total market). Countrywide Financial Corp. jumped into the market this week. Wall Street Journal coverage is here. Other major players already there include Bank of America, Wells Fargo and others.

Condominium developers are marketing to young singles with new projects that promise affordable prices, hot neighborhoods and a great social atmosphere, according to today’s Wall Street Journal. Amenities include poolside parties, hot tubs and videogame rooms, and the ad campaigns look like something out of a dating website. Just one problem: a good chunk of buyers turn out to be empty nesters over 50:

. . .it’s not so easy to control demographics in the open market. Some of the buildings are drawing unexpected buyers: people old enough to be the parents of the kids down the hall. And that’s leading to territorial conflicts, social snubs — even planned boardroom coups. Such concerns are multiplying as the new buildings fill up with a mix of residents who range broadly in age. In Denver, about half of the units in the recently completed Glass House sold to empty-nesters, despite youth-oriented amenities such as a videogame lounge and a Web site that promises “cool bars” and “a fresh vibe.” In New York, even a hot tub above the lobby and a provocative marketing campaign couldn’t keep boomers away from William Beaver House, slated to open next year.

Nothing surprising here; affluent Boomers account for a substantial percentage of urban condo buys in major markets like Chicago and New York, fueled mainly by couples moving back from the suburbs. They also dominate sales in the second home market, which is how some Boomers probably look at these units.

National Public Radio aired a remarkable series this week on the looming development of 800,000 acres of land in Florida’s panhandle by the state’s largest private landowner, the St. Joe Company. The Florida real estate market has been soft lately, but St. Joe’s marketing efforts focus on aging boomers nationally looking for second homes and retirement real estate. St. Joe was started by a DuPont in the 1920s as a timber company, and has been buying land ever since. It got into real estate about a decade ago, and has been developing planned communities using innovative architecture and principles of new urbanism:

An example of what St. Joe has in mind for the panhandle can be found here in Tallahassee. SouthWood is a planned community on 3,300 acres with a town center, schools, a YMCA and a golf course. After seven years, it’s about halfway built out. Workers are now putting up town homes near the town center.

The company’s timeline for development of the panhandle stretches out for the next 50 years, NPR reports.

Age-restricted real estate projects usually aren’t priced at the top end of the market. Now, developers are experimenting in the upper ranges, reports Jane Adler in the Chicago Tribune. A case in point: Stonebridge of Lake Bluff, an 85-home development underway in Chicago’s far northern suburbs. Homes will be priced from “the mid-$800,000s to $1.8 million,” Adler reports. Projects like this are showing up in areas where real estate prices already are high. But developers usually prefer to develop high-end real estate for a broader customer target.

Toll Brothers also has an upscale age-restricted housing development underway in the Chicago area. Orange County, California is another hot spot for the trend.

Goldman Sachs’ new basket of Japanese stocks that will benefit from the Boomer age wave got me thinking about U.S.-based boomer stocks. What companies will benefit most from the potent combination of increased longevity, affluence and the enormous size of the Boomer demographic segment? Top investment analysts have been weighing in on Boomer stock plays; most are focusing on the obvious sectors—financial, healthcare, real estate and travel.

50+Digital will be monitoring market analysis and commentary on stocks that represent age wave plays, and collecting pointers to the best commentary. The most interesting analysis we’ve seen so far comes from Erik Dellith at Reuters, who recently published a list of ten favorite stocks . He started with a list of more than 1,000 companies, and boiled it down to just over 100 using various Reuters filters for quality. The final cut filtered for above average earnings-per-share growth within an industry category for both the trailing 12 months and the past five years. Two of his favorites: Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Nicholas Financial Inc.

Below is a live chart of the Reuters picks so you can keep score:

CNBC wild man Jim Cramer also has some views on boomer stocks. Like Reuters, Cramer likes Goldman Sachs. His picks also include Legg Mason Inc. and T. Rowe Price Group.

The hotel sector should be a strong play, according to a study by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, supported by rising leisure travel by aging boomers. The study points to full service hotels as a best bet.