Category: Retirement Real Estate
November 20, 2012 -- If Hurricane Sandy had some tiny silver lining amidst the tragedy it wreaked in the Caribbean, New Jersey, New York, and elsewhere, it is its lessons on preparedness. Those lessons could be very relevant to you if you are considering buying a retirement home in the next few years.
Infrastructure experts have long warned state and local officials as well as home owners about serious problems that could come with coastal flooding. Yet electrical and communications equipment left at ground level flooded, along with subway and car tunnels. Homes in flood zones were destroyed, above ground power lines were downed, roads washed out. The resulting human suffering is beyond
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Published on November 20, 2012
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
Nov 20, 2012 -- New research suggests that the traditional rule of thumb for how much you can safely take out of your retirement funds, 4% per year, is not the ideal tool for the job. Originally popularized by Bill Bengen in 1994, it was at least partially based on the assumption that traditional stocks and other investments would return 6% or more over the long haul. As reported by Robert Powell at WSJ MarketWatch in "Retirement Income: What's Wrong with the 4% Rule" and the Center for Retirement Research in "Can Retirees Base Wealth Withdrawals on the IRS’ Required Minimum Distributions?", several exciting new theories challenge
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Published on November 20, 2012
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
November 14, 2012 -- As we baby boomers age there is a good chance that we might inherit an IRA from a parent, spouse, or sibling. Likewise your spouse and/or heirs will probably inherit yours when you go to the pearly gates. The rules governing inherited IRAs can be complicated, so it is important that you understand the basics that apply so you can make the best decisions. Here are the major issues to consider.
Transferring inherited IRA assets
If you inherit a traditional or Roth IRA from someone who isn't your spouse, your options are fairly limited. You can't roll the proceeds over to your own IRA, treat the IRA as your own, or make any additional contributions to the IRA. What you can do is transfer the assets to a different IRA provider, as long as the registration of the account continues to
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Published on November 14, 2012
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Category: General Retirement Issues
November 12, 2012 — (Note: See our followup to this article, “The X Factor in Retirement“, which recapped comments made here). Americans love their pets, there is no getting around that. According to the World Society for the Protection of Animals, the USA is the overwhelming pet capital of…
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Published on November 12, 2012
Comments 51
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
November 8, 2012 -- Weather is a critical input in the retirement happiness quotient for most people. Back in September we provided a list of resources where members could research the best weather conditions to fit their personal tastes. This month we've taken a different approach -- we've selected the top 10 places to retire based on our own weather criteria. And because there are lots of good choices, we've also included a few honorable mentions. Note that although our choices are numbered 1 - 10, the choices are so subjective it is better to view them as all good choices rather than one is better than another. This article was prepared in cooperation with WSJ MarketWatch, who published a beautiful slideshow version of the 10 Best Places to Retire for the Weather.
The places on this list all offer good
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Published on November 8, 2012
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Category: Health and Wellness Issues
November 4, 2012 -- Note: This is Part 2 of our Medical Insurance for Retirement Series. See Further Reading at end for links to Part 1 through 5.
The result of last month's member survey about Medicare are in. We are pleased that you have ideas on a plan to fix Medicare, something that differentiates you from our elected leaders in Washington. When asked to rank your ideal fix from a list of 9 choices, limiting benefits to the most affluent was the number 1 choice, closely followed by 4 others (see detailed results below). Vouchers and lifetime benefit caps were the least popular choices in the survey. Elsewhere in the survey results, most of our responders have opted in to Medicare and its component parts. The sole exception is Part C (Medicare Advantage), where more folks are not in the program than are.
We are so grateful to the more than 550 people who took to the time to answer our 9 questions about Medicare. While we can't say that any of the findings are particularly surprising, the results do shed
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Published on November 4, 2012
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Category: Retirement Planning
Nov 2 — Our thoughts and prayers are with all our members in the Notheast who have been affected by Subtropical Cyclone Sandy. The pictures of the devastation are horrible but do not do justice to the tragedy and hardship many of you are suffering. As of this date the…
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Published on November 1, 2012
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Category: Active adult communities
October 16, 2012 -- Few topics can generate strong opinions like Home Owner Associations (HOAs). There are people who have a visceral reaction to them, while others see them as a necessary and beneficial part of living together in a community. In today's update to our original 2009 article, Joe West, one of the most knowledgeable people in the country on HOAs and CEO of Community Associations Network, shares his expertise on the basics everyone should know before they commit to living in any
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Published on October 15, 2012
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Category: Health and Wellness Issues
The Obama and Romney campaigns are both keeping their plans for fixing Medicare a secret. So here is your chance to tell them how it should be done – if you were in charge how would you fix Medicare so this cherished benefit is there for the next generation? Take…
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Published on October 10, 2012
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Category: Health and Wellness Issues
Updated May 17, 2016 -- Note: Although the basics about Medicare are unchanged, the amount you pay in premiums and deductibles changes over time. This article is both Module 9 of our Retirement 101 Online Preparation Course and the first in a series on Medicare.
-- Believe it or not, there is some good news about your turning 65 - you are now old enough to be eligible for Medicare! Cheer up, the worst of your medical insurance worries are over, particularly if you retired early and are not covered by an employer plan. Most people in the Medicare system are grateful for the coverage and peace of mind it provides.
This 101 article, part 1 in a series, is meant to address the concerns we know many of you have about how to get started with Medicare. Using information from the very helpful Medicare.gov site and in particular its FAQ feature, we'll explain exactly what the program is and outline the many options it can provide, so you can both rest
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Published on October 8, 2012
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