http://www.topretirements.com/blog Retirement Communities: How to Find Yours Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:47:06 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Deciding which state you ought to retire to is hard enough. First you have to find the right climate, tax structure, environment, culture, crime, etc. But with the economic recession of the last few years another factor enters in - is your state in financial trouble so deep it might ... http://www.topretirements.com/blog/financial/with-some-states-in-trouble-be-careful-where-you-retire.html/ Nov. 5, 2008. Much to the glee of builders, bankers, and real estate agents, the bill to extend the tax credit for new home buyers was passed by both the House and the Senate. President Obama is expected to sign the legislation very soon. But wait, there's even better ... http://www.topretirements.com/blog/real-estate/existing-homeowners-to-be-eligible-for-tax-credit.html/ Many people moving into an active adult community will find new meaning in the lyrics from that great 70's song by The Who, "Won't Get Fooled Again". In the song the punch line is "Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss". That's where Pete Townsend warns that ... http://www.topretirements.com/blog/active-adult-communities/meet-the-new-boss-your-hoa.html/ [caption id="attachment_627" align="alignleft" width="249" caption="Nicaragua Coast"][/caption]If you believe the marketing hype you can retire to any number of offshore paradises and live like a prince on social security - or less. In our opinion it certainly is possible, but there might be some important trade-offs along the way. Forbes just ... http://www.topretirements.com/blog/international-retirement/10-tips-to-consider-before-retiring-abroad.html/ In our recent article, "Whackiest Best Places to Retire List", we poked a little fun at some of the "Best Places to Retire" lists our big named publishing brethren keeping come up with. In so doing we promised to come up with our own "Best Affordable List", and here it ... http://www.topretirements.com/blog/great-towns/the-affordable-and-more-best-places-to-retire-list.html/ Readers love best places to retire (or live) lists. Publishers are crazy about them because... (read first sentence again). But good grief, is there is no end to zany lists? Consider three such lists put out recently. First one from U.S. News, another in a long string of "best places ... http://www.topretirements.com/blog/great-towns/who-has-the-strangest-best-places-to-retire-list.html/ October 15, 2009. It's official, there will be no social security COLA (Cost of Living Allowance) increase in 2010, the first time this has happened since 1975. The reason is simple, this year there was no increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W) from the third quarter of 2008 ... http://www.topretirements.com/blog/financial/no-2010-cola-increase-in-social-security-is-stimulus-payment-an-end-run-on-the-system.html/ Note: This is the 3rd in a 3 article series about baby boomers and their retirement real estate plans. Part 1 featured the differences (and similarities) of boomers' retirement housing preferences and the homes builders are building. Part 2 explored the conflict between baby boomer desire to retire in suburbia ... http://www.topretirements.com/blog/baby-boomer-issues/baby-boomer-self-appraisal-where-should-i-live.html/ It's been a rough couple of days in the retirement real estate market. Fortunately, not all the news was bad, depending on your perspective. Here are few news stories crossing our desk: - Prices are falling in many active adult communities, which is stimulating sales to at least some degree. According ... http://www.topretirements.com/blog/real-estate/active-adult-communities-a-real-estate-checkup.html/ Remember the great fear of a few years ago: baby boomers will be retiring in droves, creating a severe shortage of skilled workers and driving up costs for employers. Whew - there's one less thing to worry about. A recent survey on the impact on retirement of the ... http://www.topretirements.com/blog/baby-boomer-issues/baby-boomers-delaying-retirement.html/