Category: Retirement Planning
August 14, 2025 -- Retirement can be such an exciting time. Maybe you have picked out a beautiful new place to live, and are set to live the good life there. Unfortunately, it can also turn out to be and experience filled out with regrets and serious financial consequences. In this article we will go over some of the common things that retirees wish they knew before they moved somewhere.
What Retirees Wish They Knew
Even with the best planning it is still possible to make a mistake about where to retire. Fortunately, the more that goes into your preparation, the better the chances of a great and happy retirement. Here are 11 of the biggest regrets Topretirements Members have told us they have had over the years.
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Published on August 13, 2025
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
August 12, 2025 — How often have we heard about a group of like-minded people who dream of retiring together – often! Getting over the logistics can be challenging, but for this group of women in Texas, it has sure been worth it. You will want to read the full…
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Published on August 11, 2025
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
July 29, 2025 -- Everybody's talking about Artificial Intelligence (AI). Governments are fretting about how to control it, employees worry it will take away their jobs, and a lot of other folks don't really care. The reality is that it is going to get even more important, and about to change our world profoundly. On the plus side, your imagination is the only limit to the many ways you can use it to help with your daily life.. Here's one very specific use - how to predict when you can retire, and how much it will take to do that comfortably.
Start by logging into a free AI service
We've been using ChatGBT (OpenAI), but there are plenty of others to choose from. Those include Google's Gemini for creative tasks and Anthropic's Claude. Microsoft's Copilot is another good one. You will probably have to create a login. They are usually free to start with, but if you use them a lot you will have to pay a relatively modest fee.
So When can I retire?
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Published on July 28, 2025
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
May 14, 2025 -- Nobody understands the dozens of mistakes you can make when it comes to choosing a retirement community than our wonderful Members here at Topretirements. By the same token, they have developed many simple strategies for how to pick the right one. On this website they have made thousands of wonderful and wise comments, suggestions, and experiences on how to negotiate the journey to the perfect place to retire. This article will attempt to gather and organize a sampling of the best ones - space keeps us from publishing many other great ones.
Check Out These Wise Comments from Topretirements Members
We are so impressed with the collective wisdom of our Members over the years. Your real world experiences and insights are invaluable!
Chris: Making decisions and having a plan is the only sure fire way to end up in the right community. Otherwise there are just too many wrong forks in the road!
Nancy: Do a stay and play and dig, dig. The builders reputation usually easy to find construction issues are important but not as important as finding the right community. Also thoroughly research all utilities, taxes, etc. - it adds up.
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Published on May 13, 2025
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Category: Retirement Planning
Jan. 26, 2025 - This year more Americans will reach their 65th birthday than in any year in history - 4.2 million of them. Currently, about 10,000 individuals reach this age daily, a rate that is projected to continue through 2027, when the baby boom bulge slides into older age brackets. If you are having your birthday, or if you are getting close, here are 7 things you need to do now to secure your retirement.
1. Register for Medicare for health care coverageMedicare is a Health Insurance Program for people age 65 or older, some disabled
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Published on January 25, 2025
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Category: Retirement Planning
Sept 23, 2024 — About a third of people aged 50 or more live alone, according to the AARP. That is a lot of people who can’t rely on a spouse or roommate as they age. So what is their plan going forward? The best advice is to start thinking…
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Published on September 22, 2024
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Category: Retirement Planning
May 29, 2024 - The decade leading up to retirement is crucial for laying the groundwork for a secure and fulfilling retirement. The steps you take in this phase are more important and more complex than you might realize, so spending time and effort now will have have a big payoff in the future.
1. Decide When to Quit Work
Pick a Date: Not everyone has the luxury of deciding when to retire - their employer or health does it for them. That's why it is important to be ready ahead of time. If you are going to retire, or partially retire, plan ahead and set a target that works with your spouse and other criteria. You can always change it, but at least you have an idea to work toward.
2. Financial Planning and Budgeting
Evaluate Retirement Savings: Assess your retirement accounts, such as 401(k)s, IRAs, and other investments. Determine if your savings align with your retirement goals and adjust contributions if necessary. Which accounts will you tap for your living expenses, and in what order?
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Published on May 28, 2024
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Category: Retirement Planning
March 2, 2024 -- To do retirement right, you need all of the great tools you can get. In this article we have assembled our top 10 retirement tools for your consideration. As always, we would love to hear about any helps that you have - please share them in the Comments section below.
Social Security1. SocialSecurity.gov. There is so much good and useful information at the Social Security site. You can find out what your benefits will be, when you can sign up, what your filing options are, etc. You can apply online. Of course you can always visit a Social Security office or call them, but start at the website and you will be amazed with what you can find.
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Published on March 1, 2024
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Category: Retirement Planning
Retirement case study: how 2 urban professionals stay busy
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Published on November 7, 2023
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
September 12, 2023 -- Even if you are in your 30's you have probably started the countdown to retirement. Probably with a mix of dread (will I be ready?) and anticipation (can't wait to be free!). No matter what your current age, we've set up a retirement countdown in 10 year periods to help with that. The idea is that by doing the preparation in stages you will be building a solid base, one that will result in an effortless blast off when that retirement finally comes. In our experience the happiest retirees are the ones who planned for it.
R (Retirement) Minus 30.
With 30 or more years before retirement you are lucky to
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Published on September 12, 2023
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