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Retirement Quiz Updated

April 6, 2013 — We have just updated our April 2011 “How Ready Are You for Retirement Quiz” article. There are 20 questions and if you keep track of your Yes and No questions, we’ll give you a score at the end. Take the Quiz, it will be fun!

10 Ideas to Help with the “What Are You Going to Do When You Retire” Question

April 2, 2013 — Congratulations, you are getting ready to retire. You’ve done the hard part – spent a life time getting out of bed and getting into work, took care of your family, and saved for this day. But have you thought about what happens if retirement turns out to be too easy for you (as in, not enough to do)? This article is designed to stimulate your thinking and get you started planning now, so that when your retirement finally comes you are set up for a happy transition from the working life.

In our experience the busiest people are usually the happiest. Call us old-fashioned, but we think human beings are hard-wired for some kind of purpose. Your job probably gave you that, and now it is history. We strongly recommend not retiring without a clear idea of what you are going to do to stay busy and engaged with life. Perhaps some people can manage a fulfilling retirement with only an idea “to do some projects” or “take a few trips”, but this approach doesn’t work for many. Without some kind of structure to your days you run the risk of becoming bored (or boring), depressed, or worse – turning into a grumpy (more…)

10 Things to Think About If You Are Retiring in 2013

December 26, 2012 — The new year is almost upon us, and many of us in the older crop of baby boomers are just a few days away from starting our retirements. If that includes you, here are 10 things you should think about in the coming days. At the end of the article we’ve included a list with some of our best retirement preparation articles.

1. Work out your at-home lifestyle. This is particularly important if you are in a relationship where one person is already at home most of the day. That person already has their routine and their spaces – and you the newly retired person are the intruder. So think out and negotiate where you are going to hang (more…)

Sandy Says No Newsletter This Week

Nov 2 — Our thoughts and prayers are with all our members in the Notheast who have been affected by Subtropical Cyclone Sandy. The pictures of the devastation are horrible but do not do justice to the tragedy and hardship many of you are suffering.

As of this date the power is out at our house and for over 80% of the population in our town. Many homes were flooded, school cancelled all week, and businesses shut down. Yet our troubles are nothing compared to New Jersey’s, which has experienced devastating flooding.

The bottom line here is that we are unable to publish our newsletter this week, and know that many of you in the Northeast would have the resources or time to read it. So look for the next edition of the newsletter to come out on Thursday, Nov. 8. We will have a follow up on our Medicare survey plus an article on “the Best Places to Retire for Weather”. In the meantime, feel free to post to our existing Blog articles, the Forum, and read the reviews of our best places to retire.

Be safe!

Quiz: Is This the Right Time for You to Retire?

October 2, 2012 — Remember when you were in your 30′s or 40′s and some guy at a party would ask people “What their number was?” As in, how much money do they have to have stashed away before they could take their job and shove it. Those days might seem pretty far away now, as our natural dates for retirement get closer and closer. This article will ask you some questions to help you determine if this is the right time for you to retire.

Retirement is a big step. Once retired, it is hard to reverse that decision, (more…)

New Retirement Guide for Single Women: A Practical New Reference

October 1, 2012 — If you are one of the more than 25 million single women over 45 then you might appreciate a new and essential reference that hits bookstores this week, “The Single Woman’s Guide to Retirement,” by Jan Cullinane. Many of our regular readers will recognize this name – Jan has been a frequent contributor to this site, both for her articles (see list at ebd) and for her many insightful additions to Blog posts and Discussion topics.

Jan’s new book (her previous one in this area was “The New Retirement”) is just the kind of read that we look forward to opening. It is practical and entertaining at the same time. Jan doesn’t waste (more…)

Retiring on a Dime – Or So It Would Seem

By Betty Fitterman
Note: This is Part 2 of a series. Part 1 is “Retirement Reality Check“

September 18, 2012 — Now I don’t want to scare you, but whatever you have saved for retirement, it probably won’t be enough. That’s the opinion of the New York Times, anyway, and I’m here to tell you that I agree.

When I was a little girl, I never thought I’d be a millionaire. Millionaires were rich, for heaven’s sake, and I never thought I’d be rich. Some 50 years after that insight, I was indeed a millionaire, so how come I felt so poor? Too poor to retire, anyway, given that the economy was tanking and some of my friends had many times the (more…)

The Best and Worst Things About Your Retirement: Survey Results Are in

Sept. 17, 2012 — The fun thing about this series of member surveys on retirement is that the results never come out exactly like we predict. Our most recent one, “The Best and Worst Things About Your Retirement” is no different. Its most pleasant surprise: the runaway worst thing about retirement is… “Nothing”! That makes us happy that so many of you are enjoying your retirements. Equally interesting were the hundreds of write-in comments provided by our members, full of insights about the best and the worst aspects of retirement planning. One typical example of a planning tip: “Find meaningful activity you absolutely adore doing and develop a circle of uplifting friends”.

But we need to start by thanking the more than 250 members/subscribers who took a few minutes to answer our most recent 8 questions. Without your input, these incredible retirement insights wouldn’t have happened – thanks! And to you who are coasting along on this input from your fellow members – next time (more…)

What Is the Best… And Worst… Thing About Your Retirement

September 11, 2012 — Our surveys have produced some absolutely wonderful suggestions for future surveys. The most support came for this one – What is the best…and the worst.. thing about your retirement. We extended the idea a bit to include questions about retirement preparation as well as actual retirement. Note that many of you asked for more ranking questions – and here they are. On those questions you actually drag the items on the list into your order of preference.

The survey is mostly aimed at people who have already retired. But many of the questions can be answered by folks who are preparing to retire. Please answer as many as you can. The more responses we get, the more valid the results!

Editor’s note. This survey is closed, but here is where you can see the fascinating results. Meanwhile, click on the link below to take our newest survey below …..

Rank the best choices to fix Medicare

Thanks

If you have comments about this survey please add them in the Comments section below.

What You Said: Finding the Right Active Community a Top Concern among Topretirements Members

August 20, 2012 — As we increasingly find out, members and visitors at Topretirements are not typical retirees (actual or future) by any means. Last week’s 5 question poll made it clear that you are more prepared to retire, have better resources, and are much more willing to relocate in your retirement than comparable baby boomers nationwide.

The response to our poll was once again fantastic, with almost 400 people taking the time to respond. Your input is incredibly helpful in understanding your retirement concerns and hopes – thanks! This post will provide an analysis of what we learned.

1. What are your top concerns about retirement? (more…)

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