Over the next two decades, it is estimated that several thousand baby boomers will retire each day.

The IRI study leaves an obvious middle ground for the sake of illustrating its point. But the key difference being that late boomers are more likely to have forged careers with defined contribution plans rather than the pension plans of early boomers.

It's not that any boomer feels great about their retirement plans. Confidence dropped across the entire segment this year, when only 34 percent of all baby boomers responding said they had sufficient funds to cover their retirement. A closer look at the IRI data, however, reveals 42 percent of early boomers thought their savings sufficient while only 25 percent of late boomers agreed.

Late boomers will manage the risks and challenges of DC plans and appear to have less saved for retirement, with 47 percent of them reporting less than $100,000 in retirement savings. Almost 80 percent are still working, but 31 percent of late boomers claim to struggle with monthly rent or mortgage bills. Moreover, 34 percent are still financially supporting an adult child.

By contrast, 36 percent of early boomers rely on DC plans and only 32 percent listed less than $100,000 in retirement savings. Only 43 percent of early boomers are still working, 20 percent of which say it's because they still enjoy it — not because of financial worry.

Late boomers entered the workforce in more uncertain times and faced social changes the early boomers mostly sidestepped.  

All of this is why the IRI suggests baby boomers can no longer be lumped into one large category when it comes to retirement.

The bottom line? By dividing the landscape, those in the industry can be better positioned to serve the vastly different retirement needs of both early and late boomers.