New York Luxury Retirement: Living the High Life

October 20, 2020 — Jaw-dropping amenities like indoor therapy pools, art galleries, and rooftop decks overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge. Lifecare options along with concierges and celebrity chefs. For those who crave the bright lights and constant stimulation of an urban retirement, many new luxury options are coming. Expensive, yes, but what an interesting lifestyle for those with the means to pay for it! After all, if you have it, why not spend some of it to get the most out of your remaining years?

Retirement in a big city is not for everyone, but there is a small segment that really wants it. New York City, which has many older people but not that many senior retirement living choices, is adding a raft of them in the next year. One of the newest and fanciest is the Watermark at Brooklyn Heights. Converted from a luxury hotel built in 1928, it retains many grand features from that earlier era. For example, the former grand ballroom is now a dazzling restaurant. The Watermark community offers a full range of care from independent living to assisted living to nursing care. There are 275 units. Developers have included an amazing 50,000 sq. ft. of amenity spaces that incorporate three restaurants, a pool, and art gallery. A rooftop deck overlooks the Brooklyn Bridge. Watermark told the New York Times that it looked for 2 decades to find an urban spot like this. The reporting was in an article about “New Senior Housing Towers Coming to New York“.

October 18, 2020 — We have had several members who posted about rival delivery services to another unrelated Blog. So we are publishing those comments here and taken them off the other one. That should keep things cleaner.

From Mary 11 – I signed up for the yearly unlimited Walmart Delivery service. I order once or twice per week. I paid $98 but you save alot of money in the long run. I haven’t been to a grocery store since January. We don’t do restaurant delivery because of Covid so we do alot of cooking at home….

October 17, 2020 – The Open Enrollment Period for Medicare started this week and runs through Dec. 7. It is an important event for eligible people not currently enrolled in the plan, or who want to change some component of their current plan.

During Open Enrollment, eligible people can sign up for Medicare. Medicare beneficiaries can compare coverage options like Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage, and choose health and prescription drug plans for 2021.

October 15, 2020 — Social Security recipients will see a small Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) next year. Based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W) from the third quarter of 2019 through the third quarter of 2020, Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries will receive a 1.3 percent COLA for 2021. The monthly average retirement benefit will be $1,543 in 2021, an increase of $20.

Employee and employer will each continue to pay 7.65% for Social Security and Medicare. Individuals making more than $200,000 in unearned income also pay an additional 0.9% in Medicare taxes. Maximum income for Social Security taxes will increase from $137,700 to $142,800 in 2021. There is no maximum on the Medicare portion.

Maximum earnings exemption increases. People receiving benefits who have not yet reached full retirement age and continue to work will see a modest increase in their earnings cap exemption, from $18,240/yr. to $18,960/yr. One dollar in benefits will be withheld for every $2 in earnings above that level. The exempt limit for those who work in the year they attain full retirement age goes from $48,600/yr to $50,520/yr in 2021 (($1 is withheld for every $3 over that limit). Beginning the month they hit full retirement age nothing is withheld.

For further reading:

Social Security 101: So You are Turning 65

October 13, 2020 — Medicare’s Open Enrollment Period starts on Oct. 15. That is when you can sign up for Medicare if you didn’t during your original eligibility period, or have not qualified for a special enrollment period (if you are already on Social Security you should have been automatically enrolled in Medicare). Try Medicare Plan Finder from Medicare.gov, it is a great way to compare plans in your area. The Open Enrollment Period means this is an excellent time for just about everybody to take our Medicare IQ Quiz!

It has just 12 questions, most of which are pretty basic, but a few that will test almost anyone. So far over 700 people have taken the quiz with an average score of 71%. The best part is you will get an instant score along with the correct answers.

TAKE THE MEDICARE IQ TEST! (this is the link)

Test Prep:
Want to study up before you take the Quiz? Here are a few articles to help you prepare.

Medicare 101

Medicare Advantage vs. Regular Medicare: Which is Right for You

And here is a detailed, question by question explanation of all of the – ANSWERS

Comments? Let us know what you think about the Quiz. All suggestions welcomed.

Oct. 12, 2020 — Many Topretirements Members are still working, wondering if and when they might retire. Enter the pandemic, and many new calculations enter into the mix.

So many corporations and small businesses have been affected in serious ways by the coronavirus. Airlines, restaurants, and hotels have been particularly devastated by people not traveling and going out to eat. States and municipalities, hit by extra expenses and declining revenues, are looking for ways to cut their budgets. Organizations like these are wondering how they are going to survive. One of their most obvious options is to layoff workers or encourage others to take early retirement.

You might be one of those people approached with a retirement package. Or you might have decided that the pandemic has made it too difficult to keep working. For example, if you are having to teach via Zoom and don’t find it rewarding. Or, maybe you found working from home so liberating that you don’t ever want to go back to the office. Worse yet, you might have been laid off and facing an early retirement you weren’t expecting. Whatever your situation, now is a good time to re-evaluate your retirement premises.

October 6, 2020 — Tens of thousands of retirement-age Americans will be migrant laborers next year, even if the economy recovers quickly. Laid off from their jobs before they wanted to, bored, or finding that their meager savings plus Social Security aren’t providing enough for a comfortable retirement, many are hitting the road, driven by economic necessity and wanderlust.

Workcampers (also workampers and workvampers), as these nomads are often called, represent a growing niche of the retirement world. They have even spawned an industry, van customizers, who can’t keep up with the demand for converting delivery vans and the like into rolling homes with every necessity included. In addition to making a living, devotees of the lifestyle enjoy the freedom and flexibility that comes with living on the road.

October 4, 2020 — Thanks to the more than 500 generous people who cared enough to spend a few minutes filling our Coronavirus Activity Survey. As we hoped, the results were extremely interesting. Most were predictable, but it is reassuring to see most Topretirements Members are taking the pandemic seriously. The hundreds of personal comments written in to several of the questions make one thing very clear – the coronavirus pandemic has been one of the most momentous events in all of our lifelines, changing daily life now, and in some ways for the rest of our lives.

Some main points:

Topretirements Members are more likely to take a vaccine than the general population (71% vs. 50%).

The CDC has taken a big reputational hit, with far more trusting Dr. Fauci.

Mask compliance is high.

About half of respondents will go to a barbershop or salon.

Car travel is viewed as far safer than flying

People are split about eating in restaurants and visiting friends.

Almost all of the survey responses were given before the President and some in his inner circle tested positive. Our hope is that people will take precautions even more seriously after seeing how communicable the virus is. Note that Topretirements Members and visitors are almost all aged 55+.

Here are the results of the survey:

Q1 Would you take a coronavirus vaccine if the CDC said it was safe and effective?

More than two thirds (71%) of those taking the survey said they would take the vaccine. This contrasts with a recent CNN poll, which showed that 51% of Americans would try to get the vaccine. In the CNN poll 60% of those over 65 said they would take it.

197 Comments: More than two thirds of respondents said they will take a vaccine, but cautiously. There is a great deal of distrust of CDC as being politicized. Many would like to give a vaccine time to prove itself. Below are links to all 197 Comments on this question (Mac and Xcl versions).

Typical comment: “Maybe. I wanna vaccine but I want to be sure that it is safe. It depends when the vaccine comes out. If it comes out before election day I will not take it because I think it would be a political vaccine. “

Q2. Who do you believe more about vaccine effectiveness and safety?

September 29, 2020 — We have updated our 2016 list for “10 Great Places to Retire in the Southwest That Won’t Break Your Budget“. The good news is that there are still some great places to retire that are affordable. The bad news is that most home prices are higher than they were four years ago, on average of about 30% higher in these towns and cities. Rather than develop an entirely new post, we decided to update the previous version, mostly because of the wonderful comments to the original version.

Check it out! (this is the link)

September 27, 2020 — We are curious about what you think is safe, and are willing to do in this coronavirus pandemic. Would you take a vaccine (and who do you trust more?). How about eating in a restaurant, visiting a hairdresser, taking a trip, having friends over? Please take this quick survey so we can see how the Topretirements Membership feels about all of these questions. It will take you less than 3 minutes. We promise we will report on the results in the Oct. 6 Best Places newsletter. Thanks!

2020 Coronavirus Survey

(Click on 2020 Coronavirus Survey or this for the link)

NOTE: Here is where you can find our complete analysis of the survey results, which are extremely interesting.