Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
January 4, 2011 -- Many baby boomers we run into are perplexed about where they will live in retirement. A big concern often centers around the bewildering number of choices - how can they find the town that matches their personality and their dreams for retirement? They often have an easier time ruling out regions or states than have choosing a particular retirement spot.
In our opinion an often overlooked choice for retirement is what is alternatively called the New Urban, Master Planned, or Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND). These communities - some totally new, while others are older towns that have invested heavily in urban planning - deliver on many of the requirements held by so many baby boomers. Those include walkability, easy access to
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Published on January 4, 2011
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Category: General Retirement Issues
Just like in every other sphere of life, the articles we post at Topretirements have their share of winners - and the not so successful. This year’s big, big winner was “Sunbelt Shines on the 100 Most Popular Retirement Towns”; it was read 267,000 times. It was pretty easy to predict that topic would be a success, but sometimes there are surprises going the other way. “Dueling States: Arizona vs. Florida for Retirement” is a good example of a feature that was not nearly
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Published on December 27, 2010
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Category: Baby Boomer Retirement Issues
Every year we dust off our crystal ball and try to think about what's ahead for retirees in the year ahead. But before we do that, here are a few observations about 2010, the year that is just about to end:
- Housing prices stabilized in most markets in 2010, and even started to increase slightly in many cities and towns. The free fall in prices that came in 2008 and 2009 has mostly stopped. Although median home prices slipped in the first quarter according to the National Association of Realtors, they increased from
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Published on December 26, 2010
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Category: Bucket Lists
Editor's Note: In August 2012 we asked our visitors and members to tell us what is on their bucket lists. See the fascinating result in this article: "Wow - Your Bucket Lists Are Amazing!"
December 20, 2010 -- Maybe you've seen the movie "The Bucket List". It stars Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, both of whom have less than a year to live in the movie. The plot unfolds from there, as this odd duo goes on a road trip together trying to accomplish as much as possible in the days remaining before they "kick the bucket". We confess we haven't seen the movie, but it sounds kind of fun. The premise is so applicable to those of us who are starting out in retirement. Although we are luckier than Nicholson and Morgan in that we have more than 1 year to accomplish our list, that also carries the danger that we have so much time left that we feel like we don't have to
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Published on December 20, 2010
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Category: General Retirement Issues
December 13, 2010 -- Remember when you took that college psychology class and you (or maybe your buddies) noticed how nicely you fit into some of the more interesting disorder diagnoses? Along those same lines, Allianz Financial has come up with a way to classify retirees. They have found 5 types: read on to see which one fits you.
Worse than Death
Their study, "Reclaiming the Future", also had two other very interesting observations:
- Most people in the study fear running out of money more than they fear death
- They also appreciate that the financial meltdown has created a retirement "crisis".
It is a little hard to imagine in advance how an insurance company might
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Published on December 13, 2010
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
December 7 -- Harrisburg, PA; Syracuse, NY; and Waco, TX are not used to being selected as "best places to retire". Yet these towns were among the top 10 on a new list of best places for retired military personnel from USAA and Military.com. The USAA lists provide a perfect illustration of why choosing a place to retire based on criteria that make sense for you is better than relying on any random list.
Retired military personnel share many common retirement needs. Many of them, particularly officers or senior noncoms, will get a substantial pension. Moving to a state where that pension won't be taxed could be worth thousands of dollars a year. Likewise, retired soldiers, sailors, airmen, and
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Published on December 7, 2010
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Category: Active adult communities
December 3, 2010 -- The sentiment expressed in..."I could have had a V-8!" is relevant to your selection of an active adult community or retirement town: Why settle for an average retirement community when you could live in a really good one? So with that goal in mind we have assembled a list of what we think makes for a great active adult community. We welcome comments and additional criteria, as well as all reader suggested nominations.
Active Community Best Practices
1. Great communication.In our opinion the #1 thing any organization can do is communicate - effectively and openly. Whether it is the HOA or the developer, have some good ways to communicate. Websites, newsletters, agendas, meetings are all great. Agendas for meetings should be published
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Published on December 3, 2010
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Category: Travel
Nov. 30, 2010 -- If you are the kind of person who likes adventure and convenience - two goals that are usually incompatible - retirement on a cruise ship might be for you. It's easy to see why many folks like cruises - you arrive at the dock, have your picture taken and come on board for a glass of the bubbly. Meanwhile your luggage finds your room (tipping is usually already included). You stow your clothes away (once) and then contemplate which restaurant merits your dinner reservation. After a busy night at the shows or rolling the dice, you awake to find your new home arriving in a new and exotic port. You check out those sights, then back to the ship where you .... rinse and repeat! And until it's time to go home,your job is to enjoy hassle-free travel from your moving base.
Many retirees go on cruises when they first retire. Usually they like them so much they
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Published on November 30, 2010
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Category: International Retirement
By Kathleen Peddicord
Here are 11 things I've learned from the school of hard knocks after three international moves across three continents with two kids, a dog, a turtle, a husband, and two businesses:
1. The first step to any move abroad is to set your priorities and to be honest in the process. What matters to you most? Evenings at the theater? Friends whose company you can enjoy in English? Cost of living? A reliable Internet connection? Don't kid yourself. If you can't imagine life without a Maytag washer and dryer, for example, you may need to rethink the entire proposition.
2. Make all decisions jointly with whomever you
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Published on November 29, 2010
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
The Presidential blue ribbon panel on how to reduce the deficit revealed a draft of its plan earlier this month. We don’t know about you, but any time a proposal attracts both howls from the rabid right and screams from the liberal left, it has to be a pretty good thing. The draft report prompted us to write this article on how its draft proposals might affect you as an older baby boomer (born before 1956). It also includes information about how you can interactively fix the budget yourself - courtesy of the New York Times.
Here are some of the key aspects of the proposal from the commission co-chaired by Erskine B. Bowles and Alan K. Simpson.
In our opinion most of the
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Published on November 23, 2010
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