Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
January 28, 2023-- Myths, misunderstandings, and just plain faulty thinking occur in retirement, just like they do in every other phase of life. This "10 Myths That Could Sink Your Retirement" article explains that, unlike earlier stages in our careers, where there might be a second chance at recovery, a mistake in your retirement can be serious. That's why it is key to avoid these common retirement myths and mistakes. Many, but not all of them have to do with money. We welcome other people's insights on the best and worst decisions they made in retirement - please add them to the Comments section below.
Top 10 Retirement Myths and Mistakes
Assuming you will work 'til you drop. Asked when they think they will retire, most people say between 65 and 67 - and many much later, if ever. But in the actual world, a Gallup poll said the average retirement age is closer to 61. The reasons for this vary greatly, but common ones are being laid off unexpectedly, or getting injured or sick and unable to work. The ramifications of retiring earlier than expected are serious, because it usually means that expected retirement savings do not materialize.
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Published on January 28, 2023
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
January 23, 2023 -- Many retirees move when they retire, although most remain in their existing state. A smaller percentage, probably between 10 and 20%, will find a different "best retirement state". The big question is - what states are they moving to? The answer to that question is - it depends on who you ask.
Topretirements looked at 4 sources to try to identify the states most likely to attract baby boomer and Generation X retirees. The results at each vary greatly. It is interesting to note that Topretirements Members are very different from most other retirees - an overwhelming preponderance (70%) say they will retire out of state, with the Southeast and Southwest being the most likely areas chosen. Warm weather is the primary driver of where, along with being close to family and friends and lower cost of housing.
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Published on January 21, 2023
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Category: General Retirement Issues
December 20, 2022 - There is a new crush of retirees coming to town, and they are not Baby Boomers. Generation X, those born from 1965 to 1980, are finally getting their turn in the retirement spotlight, a very big demographic shift in the making. The eldest GenX-ers will turn 58 in 2023, the age when many people start retiring in earnest. But how ready for retirement will this new generation be, and how will it differ from the baby boomers before them?
Confident?
Fortunately, many in the Gen X generation have been preparing for retirement. Most have been saving for that day, confident about their money skills, but worried that they might fall short of what it takes to maintain their working day lifestyles. Of course, either from choice or necessity, not all of they will retire early, or ever.
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Published on December 19, 2022
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Category: Family and Retirement
November 2, 2022 - Thanks to everyone who took the time to take last week's instant poll on spousal compatibility around retirement decisions. The good news is that the vast majority of you all are either extremely compatible (25%) or mostly compatible (41%). Luckily, only a handful are extremely incompatible. Many of you added insightful comments to explain your particular situation, and offer lessons learned to others. We have incorporated some of those into this article, along with ones from previous articles. (see Further Reading below to see all of them).
The worst situation
The biggest problem is when two partners disagree on major issues about retirement. If they can't agree on when and where to retire, how much money to spend, how close to family, or what is the right climate, somebody might end up extremely unhappy. Let's hope that didn't happen to you. But if it does, here are some tips on how to make the best of it, along with some of the common pickles that couples find themselves in.
Get started early
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Published on November 1, 2022
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Category: Family and Retirement
October 26, 2022 – The topic of spousal compatibility around retirement planning is an intriguing topic. We are not talking about how you and your spouse or partner get along day to day, but more specifically about retirement planning. Did you/do you have the same ideas about when and where…
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Published on October 25, 2022
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Category: Downsizing
Our thanks to the NY TImes best-selling author HALLIE EPHRON for allowing us to reprint this amazing story from JungleRedWriters.com. Decluttering, ridding out, downsizing, whatever you want to call it, is hard. This is a wonderful and touching tribute, thank you! Note: Jerry, with whom I share a birthday, was one of the most interesting people I have ever met.
HALLIE EPHRON: My husband and I reached a detente early in our marriage. He could go to all the yard sales and buy whatever he wanted (mostly books), and I wouldn't nag him about it, as long as I didn't have to look at his piles of stuff.He celebrated this arrangement in one of the anniversary (our 30th) cards he drew for me.
When Jerry died, with my daughters' help I gave away his clothes. I enlisted a used book dealer (of Antiques Roadshow fame, Ken Gloss) to take his sizeable and variable book collection.
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Published on October 25, 2022
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Category: Family and Retirement
September 28, 2022-- As a follow up to our recent article, "There Might Be More Than One Kind of Home for You in Retirement", this one concentrates on the latter stage of retirement. What you will do when you are a little less active, and your abilities are not quite what they were in the beginning and middle phases of retirement? The idea for this started when the eldest sister in our family, approaching her 79th birthday, asked our relatives what they were planning for their late retirement years. We agree this is an important conversation to have, particularly with one's children and other family members. We hope that you will add your thoughts in the Comments section below, so we capture a wide range of opinions and plans.
The conversation started with this question:
We have no plans to sell our houses or to move, but it is certainly time for us to think about the future. With our children spread out, we could go many places. Our policy up to now has been, when we need help we will pick up and move close to one of our children. But I wonder if that might be too late. It’s hard for an older couple to make a big move, particularly if one is needy. Since both of our parents lived to a ripe old age (92 and 102) with most mental faculties intact, our genetics make it seem like we should be planning for the long term.
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Published on September 28, 2022
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Category: Retirement Planning
September 7, 2022 -- We are fortunate to be living in a time when retirement has so many possibilities. Not so long ago, our choices were to work until we dropped, move in with one of our children, or get shipped off to a nursing home. Now, the choices are endless - but which one is right for you?
Retirement is a continuum
For most people, there isn't just one phase of retirement - there are many. Let's say you retire in your early to mid 60's. The type of community you retire to might not be a lot different from where you lived before. Maybe you move to a new town or state, or stay in your current home. A new home might be smaller, bigger, or very different from your current one. You probably want to move to a community or an area that offers the kind of amenities and recreation that your new freedom opens up. Those might include golf, pickleball, hobbies, culture, hiking, biking, exercise, etc.
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Published on September 6, 2022
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Category: Downsizing
October 20, 2022 -- Moving at any age is bad enough. But baby boomers have spent decades acquiring all kinds of stuff, adding to the challenges of age. Moving at our age usually means downsizing, when we realize we have 1,000 pounds of stuff (furniture, knicknacks, collections, etc.) that we can't possibly fit into the 600 pound bag our new home represents.
Enter the "senior move manager", a new job that can take so much of the pain out of downsizing and moving. This person can help with every aspect, from helping you sort what to keep, how to get rid of the rest, to planning what will fit in your new home - both size wise and stylistically. They can do it all, down to getting your kitchen equipment into the right cupboard in the new kitchen.
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Published on July 21, 2022
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
July 6, 2020 -- A new study focussed on the financial issues that retirees should really be concerned about, and then it measured what they actually worried about. The results are interesting - it seems like many people are downplaying the risks that should concern them, like how long they will live, and instead concentrating on issues that are less worrisome, such as market risk.
In "How Well Do Retirees Assess the Things They Should Worry About", the researchers used a host of data from various sources to measure 5 areas of concern for anyone in retirement. Then they ranked those risks in order:
Actual Financial Risks
Longevity. The worry should be that you will live longer than expected and run out of funds.
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Published on July 6, 2022
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