Category: General Retirement Issues
March 3 -- This winter has been so beastly in the midwest and northeast that it has tipped many folks into seriously considering becoming snowbirds. A study from Trulia confirmed that, finding that for every temperature drop of 10 degrees there is a 4.4% increase in searches for homes in warm winter climes. This article will continue our series on the snowbird life in retirement, with the emphasis on more considerations you should keep in mind if you are thinking about heading south for the winter (see end
more...
Published on March 3, 2014
Comments 19
Category: Retirement Planning
March 5 – An annual CareerBuilder survey shows a slightly more optimistic picture for full-time workers nearing the end of their careers than just a few years agon, when the Recession caused many workers to delay retirement plans or forego them completely. While a majority (58 percent) of workers age 60 or older say they are currently putting off retirement; it represents continued improvement from 61 percent in 2013 and a peak of 66 percent in 2010.
The nationwide survey – conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of
more...
Published on March 4, 2014
Comments 2
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
Note: The tax bill signed into law in late 2017 will have a great impact on the worst states for retirement. In Feb. 2018 we updated this article: "Worst States for Retirement - 2018".
March 11, 2014 -- Finding the best place to retire in is a little bit like looking for a mate. There are lots of attractive ones out there. But for you - which state has the most appealing features and a minimum of not so desirable attributes. To help weed out the more unattractive ones, we present our 3rd annual (we skipped 2013) list of the worst states for retirement. There is one main point we want to emphasize - everyone's retirement situation is different, so a one size fits all approach won't work. If your grandchildren live in one of these states and you want to be near them - that makes it a great retirement state for you. Our goal for this article is to give you the tools to help you figure out what states aren't a good fit for your retirement. See this article's counterpoint: "Best States for Retirement - 2016".
Factors we considered
In this year's list we have tried to simplify
more...
Published on March 11, 2014
Comments 180
Category: Retirement Real Estate
March 14, 2014 -- President Obama is set to sign a new bill passed by the Senate and House that rolls back planned flood insurance increases. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) welcomed the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act, saying: "Flood insurance legislation will provide much-needed certainty to home owners and financial stability for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
Home builders believe the reform will provide an important boost to home building and remodeling. People who own homes affected by the 2012 Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act are relieved that they will not have to face huge premium spikes and impacts on
more...
Published on March 14, 2014
Comments 12
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
March 24, 2014 — Chances are your Social Security benefit is one of the most important components of your retirement. But in our experience there is a fairly shocking lack of knowledge about this subject. To help you get the most out of your benefit we have prepared an 11…
more...
Published on March 24, 2014
Comments 5
Category: Family and Retirement
March 25, 2014 -- Couples might joke about it with their friends, but the nitty-gritty issues of handling a "1 person working, 1 person retired" relationship is no laughing matter. For example, one spouse might have taken early retirement and now enjoys most mornings on the golf course or drinking coffee with friends. Meanwhile his partner is working away on the job - bringing in a paycheck and having a completely different
more...
Published on March 25, 2014
Comments 19
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
March 31, 2014 -- Thanks to everyone who took our Social Security Quiz - all 5,700 of you (and counting)! As we warned, it was not easy. In fact, Harry, a college friend of ours commented that if your editor was a professor back in the day no one would taken his classes! There is still plenty of good news though, especially since there is a grading curve:
- Some of the points that people messed up on are nice to know, but not crucial to
more...
Published on March 31, 2014
Comments 7
