When Active Adult Communities Go Bad

Note: This article was originally posted in 2009. Although things have improved in some communities, most of these same issues remain in 2011.

With prices in some very interesting active adult communities sliced in half from just 2 years ago, it is tempting to buy a retirement home. But as many thoughtful people have pointed out, those bargain prices could have… (more…)

Just what is a 55 plus active adult – and why should I care?

The first part of the definition is easy – there are a lot of people who are 55 years of age or older. By the year 2010 there will be 74 million people who fit that category in the U.S. – nearly 1 in 4 people.

Arguably the term “55 plus active adult” includes just about everybody in this age group-except for those in prison, hospitals, or who live a sedentary lifestyle. But realistically, the term (more…)

Retirement Ranger: “Hi Yo Silver-Hairs Away!”

There’s a new retirement calculator in town, and this one is proud to be wearing a brown hat. The Retirement Ranger’s motto says it all: “Hi Yo, silver-hairs, away!” (Thanks to OldNassau for that great motto).

Retirement Ranger is a Free new interactive calculator that delivers an instant, personalized list of best places to retire. Answer 11 questions and you will be emailed an instant, free report. Use your Topretirements user name and password to sign up, or create a new one if you aren’t already registered. You can retake the quiz as often as you would like – it’s free and there is no obligation.

We developed this new quiz as a quick and fun way to tap the huge amounts of data that you and our editors have accumulated in our over 400 city and town reviews.  For example, each Topretirements town has data for Jan. temperature, cost of living, housing prices, population, cultural index, type of environment (college town, mountains, lake, coastal, desert, small town, etc.), and region.  By selecting the criteria that are most important to you, the quiz uses the database to come up with your personalized list of towns and 55+ communities in or near those towns.  There is even an option to send an email to friends to tell them about Retirement Ranger.

A word of caution.  Please resist the temptation to get overly specific the first time you take it.  With only 400+ best places to retire, the more specific you get the higher the chances that will will get no or very few choices. So just pick 1 or 2 very important criteria the first time (select “No Preference” for the rest). Then, if you see too many choices, retake the quiz with fewer “No Preferences”.

To take the quiz you will need a user name and password. If you haven’t already created a user name at Topretirements, just make one up. If you don’t remember your old user name and password, go to our Help page to have them sent to you.  If you wish to create a new user name and password, you must have a different email address that what you originally signed up with.

For more information and tips about the quiz, check out “About this Quiz“.

Villages CDDs Get Proposed IRS Settlement

Update: July 27, 2009.  As promised, the IRS has expanded its audit of the tax-free status of more bonds after failing to reach a settlement with Community Development Districts at The Villages.  The investigation now covers almost $400 million in recreation and other bonds, up from $64 million in the original audit. See the Bond Buyer Story for more.

Original Story: The Villages, the giant active adult community south of Ocala, FL, has received a proposed settlement from the IRS to resolve an investigation of tax-free bonds issued by 2 of its Community Development Districts (CDDs). The Bond Buyer reports that the settlement would mean that the Village Center and Sumter Landing Districts would redeem over $355 million bonds issued in 2003, pay the federal government $2.85 million, and refrain from issuing more tax-exempt bonds. The IRS suggested that (more…)

The Best of the “Best Places to Retire” Lists

CBS Moneywatch.com has just published a thoughtful article on Best Places to Retire Lists. Thoughtful in the sense that it recognizes that there is no one best place to retire, people need different kinds of lists to match their differing objectives and preferences.

Moneywatch limited its review of the lists only to those updated since 2008. That led to its 5 top rated lists – U.S. News, Money, Smart Money, TopRetirements.com, and RetirementLiving.com.  Could we say that Topretirements was pleased to have come out as the most highly rated of the bunch – YES!!!

The Moneywatch.com writer, Richard Eisenberg, liked Topretirements because of the “Zagat-like” reviews and a “wide variety of reasonable criteria” for selecting the best places to retire on the basis of “livability”.  Topretirements was rated best for finding towns that other retirees like.

The website article goes on to review the 5 best rated lists of  “Best Places to Retire”. Topretirements got 4 stars, the lists from U.S. News and Money got 3 stars, Smart Money and Retirement Living.com got 1 star each. Best Places to Retire Lists like the popular ones developed by U.S. News were cited as useful, but often focus on very narrow criteria such as “smartest people”, best for golfers, most affordable, most parks, most Republican, etc.

Eisenberg points out, correctly in our view, that “it is possible to use the lists that are out there to narrow your choices and to discover some plausible options you might not have otherwise considered.”  Check out the website article, it’s useful.

Helpful Links
Moneywatch.com “Best Places to Retire”
Topretirements “25 Best Places to Retire”