Welcome to Topretirements.com, where active adults 55+ can find their best place to retire

December 17 — Gays and Lesbians in America have overcome many barriers and achieved more tolerance in many areas of their lives. Society is generally more accepting, workplaces have changed to accommodate domestic partner rights, even the armed forces are less restrictive. But as baby boomer gays and lesbians (LGBTs) begin to retire in large numbers, they are finding that retirement communities are the next frontier. A recent 3 part article, The Senior Situation, at Gaywired.com profiled the many complex situations that many boomers face as they entire the world of retirement.

The number 1 issue that most gays are finding is that the residents of most existing retirement communities are not quite ready for people who have come out of the closet. A lack of acceptance by residents and sensitivity by employees frequently compromises the retirement experience. Chuck Kerpec, a 30-veteran of the senior living industry writes in Part II that: “Having worked in the industry as long as I have, I wouldn’t be comfortable living in the retirement communities that are available today”. Part III of the series talks about the conflict between younger gays and those of retirement age. David Latina, president of Oakland, Calif.-based Barbary Lane Senior Communities, suggests “many LGBT youngsters haven’t yet stepped up to the plate because the gay community, in general, is ageist”. Barbary Lane is a 46-unit operation that describes itself as “a place where every letter of LGBT can live life to the fullest and love without boundaries”.

A separate article on GayWired profiles many new exciting new LGBT communities.

December 16 — It’s a very exciting day for John Brady, owner of Topretirements.com: his Op-Ed feature on the need for Property Tax Reform, Time to Retire the Property Tax, was featured as an Op-Ed in the Connecticut section of today’s Times.
The thesis in his Op-Ed is that archaic property tax laws are not only unfair, but that they also hurt education budgets.

As many retiring baby boomers have already figured out, property taxes bear no relation to a person’s income or financial assets. In retirement this tax becomes a much larger percentage of a person’s new, reduced income (and you can usually assume there will be big annual increases). Many states have passed laws to protect full-time residents and retirees against unreasonable increases. Florida’s Save our Homes law is one of the most successful - it caps annual increases in assessed value at 3%. One of the most frequent questions asked in retirement forums is: “what are the most tax-friendly states?”

Increases in assessed value that occur in volatile real estate markets cause the most mayhem with property taxes. After a new assessment some homeowners see their taxes increase dramatically, severely affecting their ability to pay. Other homeowners, however, actually see their tax bills decline. Brady’s argument that the property tax hurts education is centered around that phenomenon - that the property tax is not as efficient as an income tax in collecting revenue from everyone who has the ability to pay.

Every state has property taxes. A relatively small number have municipal income taxes. The challenge Brady proposed to a very tradition bound CT legislature is to permit municipal income taxes as a way to accomplish 2 purposes: achieve better tax equity, and generate more revenue. Stay tuned!

One of the benefits of retirement is it opens up new possibilities for gifts. Whether it is for yourself, a friend, or a loved one; here are some ideas for holiday gifts that are fun and appropriate for the retiree’s new station in life. In fact, in case you get asked to make a retirement speech, your friend might like the present better than your speech.

Golf - Lots of people get more serious about golf in retirement. Check out these ideas:
- Medicus swing trainer. If you have a perfect swing this tool stays in one piece. If you are like me, it breaks in 2 pieces at the end of the backswing. Get it to stay in one piece and you have trained the perfect swing.
- Imprinted golf balls. Most pro shops will imprint a name or 3 initials on a dozen golf balls either for free or a modest extra charge
- Golf books. There are lots of great golf books. For funny and good try “Spikes” by Michael Griffith, “The Best of P.G. Wodehouse” by P.G. Wodehouse, or the hilariously funny (and true) “Who’s Your Caddy” by Rick Reilly. For a funny mystery, try Roberta Isleib’s golf mysteries like “Putt to Death”
- Hybrid clubs. If your newly retired person doesn’t have a hybrid club, get him/her one. Thanks to hybrids, no amateur should ever hit more than a 5 iron again (that is, don’t hit a 2, 3, or 4 iron unless you want to score badly). Note: hybrids generally come in degrees instead of numbers. Your golf pro will be able to relate them, but generally a 19 degree is equivalent to a 3 iron, a 22 degree to a 4 iron.

Gadgets - These may appeal more to men than women - the state of the sexes being what it is.
- TomTom or Garmin GPS system. Some folks say the TomTom is better, but both are significantly easier to use than any previous models you might have seen. They start at about $400. They offer a windshield mounted (detachable) system that has a touch screen; some are voice-activated. Optional traffic advisory services alert you to and show you how to get around tie-ups before you hit them. Great for when you are touring the country looking for that perfect retirement community!
- Wrist mounted GPS. Perfect for runners and bikers. These very cool systems tell you your pace/how fast you are going, display your route, and give you your heart rate. Get back home and you can download your entire workout including speed and pulse, overlaid against actual maps.
- iPhone. This is the gadget of the year. Anybody who considers themselves technologically savvy should have one
- Wii. Pronounced “Wee”, this Nintendo set is very, very cool. In fact, retirement communities have been in the news because they have been installing them in clubhouses. You attach the device and simulate the motion for any sport (bowling, golf, tennis, etc), the game takes your input and displays the results on a screen to make it look like real life. Caution: so hot they are hard to find.

Books - Here are some of the best books we have seen on the subject of retirement.:
- “America’s 100 Best Places to Retire” - Elizabeth Armstrong (has good detail from actual people)
- “Cities Ranked and Rated” - Second Edition. By Bert Sperling and Peter Sander. Tremendously useful statistics on 400 cities
- “Where to Retire: america’s best and most affordable places” by John Howells. I like the organization of this book, which is geographical.
- “Retirement Places Rated” by David Savageau. Features extensive ratings of various attributes
- “50+ Igniting a Revolution to Reinvent America” by Bill Novelli
- “Second Careers - New Ways to Work After 50” by Caroline Bird
- “Second Acts” by Stephen Pollan and Mark Levine
- “Silver Nomad: Journeys and Places to Discover in Your Retirement” by Eric Challine. Inspiring ideas for retirement travel, with wonderful descriptions
- “Volunteer: A Traveller’s Guide to Making a Difference Around the World” by Lonely Planet. Practical details about how to choose and get the most out of more volunteer programs take the guesswork out of making a difference.

Wild and Crazy Ideas:
How about giving a chance to fulfill an active fantasy life:
Skip Barber Racing School
Fantasy Baseball Camp
Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp

Let us hear your ideas. Click “Comments” and share your gift thoughts!

December 3 - If you have been hankering to retire to a place where the great out of doors is, well, right out your door, there is a new book you might want to pick up. In fact you can win a Free copy (see end of article). “101 Best Outdoor Towns” is by Sarah Tuff & Greg Melville. The authors researched the best outdoor towns by looking at access to state and national parks; pristine outdoor areas; lakes and rivers; plus recreational activities like windsurfing, hiking, snowboarding, cross country skiing, fishing, and more. Just to make sure that these are outstanding communities from other viewpoints, they also factored in cost of living, transportation, population, adequacy of the downtown resources, etc.
Hood River, Oregon

MSN City Guides - Outdoor Towns gave an enthusiastic review of this book. They pulled out 10 towns from the 101 listed as examples. Although the book was written for a general audience, it is easy to see how the towns would appeal to baby boomers and active adults as well. This is the list of 10 towns singled out from the book by MSN:

Lake Placid, New York – home of the 1980 Winter Olympics
Hood River, Oregon – windsurfing capital of the world
McCall, Idaho - fly-fishing, rock climbing, cross country skiing
Salida, Colorado – White water rafting excels at the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area
Boone, North Carolina – home of the tallest mountain in the east, 6,684-foot Mount Mitchell, along with the Pisgah National Forest and Blue Ridge Mountains
Livingston, Montana – “A River Runs Through It” was just one of the movies shot here
Ely, Minnesota – next to the Boundaries National Waters Canoe Area
Davis, West Virginia – Mountain biking, skiing, white water
Bethel, Maine – A charming Maine town near the Sunday River Ski Resort and the White Mountains. Home of the North American Wife Carrying Championships
Haines, Alaska – Sled dog racing, kayaking, skiing – plus the Alaskan wilderness

The book is $19.95 from the Country Man Press.
Win a Free copy! Country Man Press has generously given Topretirements several copies of the book to be used in a drawing. To enter all you have to do is post a comment to this story, giving us the name of your favorite outdoor town, or one you have heard about that appeals to you. Posting is easy. To protect all of us against blog spam (you wouldn’t believe how much we get) all you have to do is enter your name and email (which will NOT be shown!) and then post. Contest ends April 1, 2008. Good luck!