Category: Health and Wellness Issues
September 23, 2013 -- Love it or hate it, Obamacare, otherwise known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, is going into effect. As a baby boomer you need to be prepared for an important first deadline that goes into place next week on October 1. That is the date that you can begin signing up for 2014 coverage at one of the health insurance marketplaces (exchanges) created by the Act. This article will outline 7 things you need to know about Obamacare, so you can be adequately covered and guarantee your rights under the new law. As you can see below, boomers too young for Medicare but not covered by their employer can probably save thousands of dollars on their medical insurance under the new law.
But first, we need to discuss your current health care insurance situation because, based on that status, the new
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Published on September 23, 2013
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Category: Family and Retirement
September 17, 2013 -- Plenty of good news came out of last week's Spousal Compatibility Survey - thanks to the more than 600 good people who took the time to share their wisdom! Our members are busy talking about retirement with their spouses - 84% have discussed retirement either "extensively" or a "fair amount". And that talking must be paying off, because of the members and visitors who took our 11 question poll, the vast majority (80%) say that they and their spouses or significant others are "fairly", "very" or "totally" compatible on retirement issues.
The survey also delved into areas of compatibility and incompatibility. By far the biggest problem falls under "where to live", an understandable situation considering the enormity of these type of choices. This article will present the results of the survey, including - best of all - a sampling of
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Published on September 17, 2013
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Category: Home and Garden
September 16, 2013 -- By Angelo DiGangi
As we get older tasks that used to be done without a second thought now require a bit more effort. Luckily, there are some easy do-it-yourself tweaks that baby boomers can use to make our homes safer and more accessible as we age and physical abilities change.
This article will explore some of the easier projects that incorporate the principles of universal design, which means designing the space for accessibility to everyone, regardless of physical abilities.
Baby boomers will be able to live longer in their homes
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Published on September 16, 2013
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Category: Work and Volunteering
September 10, 2013 -- It's one of the first questions you will probably get as a new retiree - what will you do all day? A new study from the Bureau of Labor Statistics has some of the answers, which include ... more time on many of the things you do already, but less time on some activities that you might not have enjoyed that much anyway. The Bureau's American Time Use Survey was the focus of today's New York Times article - "Americans at Leisure, or Still at Work". We will highlight some of the key findings of this and some other recent studies. (The Times Retirement section also has several other worthwhile articles, including ones on the Senior Discount, Annuities, and Starting a Business).
Work - or Play?
One of the survey's most interesting findings is that more people today over 65 are working. A decade ago 13.9% of those over 65 were in the workforce, today that is up 18.7%. Some 20% of Americans aged 70-74 are working, which declines to
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Published on September 10, 2013
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Category: Retirement Planning
September 3, 2013 -- So many people would rather stay in their homes than spend their old age in an independent living or assisted living facility. Just ask your baby boomer friends who can't convince their aging parents to move into one of these places - even when they are beyond caring for themselves. PBS had a nice segment recently on the Retirement Village concept, where by pooling resources older folks can get the support they need to safely and comfortably stay in their homes longer. Here is where you can watch the segment, "There is No Place Like Home".
The Village to Village Network also has a list of village neighborhoods across the country, plus more
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Published on September 3, 2013
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Category: Active adult communities
Note: Our 2014 list was published in September of 2014. See "Florida Dominates 2014 List of Most Popular Communities"
September 2, 2013 -- There are some very big surprises in this year's results for the 100 most popular active adult communities. First off, 4 states completely dominated our visitors' favorite active adult communities: Florida (25), Tennessee (16), Delaware (16), and North Carolina (12) amassed 69 of the 100 most popular communities. Within that result, Tennessee's 16 communities in the top 100 demonstrates that it is a state to be taken very seriously when it comes to baby boomer retirement. Of the remaining 46 states, only Pennsylvania (6), Texas (4) and South Carolina (4) put more than a few communities into the top 100.
Florida topped the 2013 list with 25 communities (it had 35 in 2012). Delaware's 16 communities on the list is by far the best representation of any non-Sun Belt state (we are counting Tennessee as a Sunbelt state, although that could be argued).
We take several conclusions away from these results:
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Published on September 2, 2013
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Category: Adventurous retirement
August 25, 2013 -- Visiting the National Parks is high on most baby boomer bucket lists - at least that's what we've learned from our previous surveys (see Further Reading at end). So when your editor rolled into Yellowstone National Park two weeks ago, he not only ticked off a bucket list item, but he also experienced another great thing about getting old enough to retire. As we arrived at the gate in we noticed a sign that said Interagency Senior Pass. Asking about it, we were astonished to find that for a mere $10 anyone who is at least 62 years can enter any National Park or Natural Wildlife Refuge (more than 2,000 sites in all) for the rest of your life. And that's just not you the pass owner who is covered, it's everybody in the car, regardless of age. Discounts on amenities like camping fees are also usually available. (See end of article for how to get one, along with many other resources to help plan your trip).
Now that you are retired you finally have the time to visit the parks. You also have an unbelievably cheap
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Published on August 26, 2013
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Category: Baby Boomer Retirement Issues
August 21, 2013 -- Now that you are retired you probably have a little more free time to pursue the interests you always wanted to. You probably also have a desire to re-connect with old friends and family. The Internet and its so called "social media" sites like Facebook are a great way to fulfill both of those desires. Their easy to use tools can instantly and effortlessly put you in contact with family, friends, acquaintances, old school mates, army buddies, long lost lovers, etc. They can also help you pursue hobbies and interests with like-minded folks in a most enjoyable way. Unfortunately, they have downsides too. Used without some common sense precautions, social media can be destructive to relationships, dangerous to you and your property, or just plain annoying. This article will first discuss the concept of social media and then outline our list of the worst mistakes retirees can make in social media.
Growth and Use
Social media is one of the fastest and most pervasive developments of all time. Facebook, the first and by far the biggest social networking site, was only available to students at Harvard University when it began in 2004. That handful of users has exploded to over a billion today; the New York Times recently reported one out of 7 people in the world use Facebook now! The Pew Internet Project reports that 72% of the U.S. online population uses
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Published on August 21, 2013
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Category: Retirement Planning
Update August, 2017 - We ran a new version of this survey this year. Here is a link to the results, which are similar but show even more interest in moving.
August 5, 2013 -- Members at Topretirements are not fuzzy about their retirement plans. Instead, they are busy getting the old homestead ready for sale and packing the wagons for the move to an exciting new (and possibly very different) home. Both the response to the survey (with 1300 responses) and the quality of your insights into our questions on selling your home, what you are looking for in the next, downsizing, and moving were amazing. In this article we will summarize the results for each question. Just as important, since so many people shared their opinions on these important questions, we have provided you with summary document where you can read all of the responses to Question 11, where 830 folks were kind enough to share their concerns and thoughts about selling, finding a new home, moving and downsizing. We urge you to read them - these real world experiences have some wonderful insights and great pieces of wisdom!
Survey results show Topretirements members are much more mobile than typical retirees
In the survey we ran last week 48% of respondents "definitely" plan on moving to a different home for retirement. Asked about their intentions about selling the home they live in now, 68% have either already sold it or are definitely putting in the market. There was strong interest in moving
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Published on August 5, 2013
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
July 30, 2013 -- We were shocked to read recently that 86% of Americans couldn't ace a simple financial IQ test. Fortunately, we are pretty sure that Topretirements members are like the children in Lake Woebegone - you are all certainly above average! This article provides link to that quiz so you can see how well you do on it. We will also provide a recap of 10 commonly held pieces of financial wisdom, along with links to more resources to help get you educated.
Here is where you can take the finra financial literacy quiz. The quiz ask simple questions about how much interest you would earn at different rates, safety of stocks vs mutual bonds, and what happens
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Published on July 30, 2013
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