Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
September 19 -- The Federal Reserve reports that almost 19% of families headed by someone 75 or older have a mortgage - up sharply from 10% in 2001. Today's Wall Street Journal article provides some practical tips if you are in the situation of retiring before your mortgage does. You can use a calculator to determine your mortgage payments. One of the common dilemmas that many people have is what to do if you have more savings than mortgage - should you pay it off quickly and forgo the home mortgage interest deduction? Jonathan Clements suggests that you take the plunge and use some of your savings in that case to reduce your mortgage. You will lose the deduction, but paying off is a better option because your loan rate is higher than your savings rate, and most interest you earn is taxable anyway.
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Published on September 19, 2007
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Category: Retirement Real Estate
September 15 - An inevitable but painful result of the slowing of the housing market is that many new retirees are having to postpone planned moves to a new retirement community. The stumbling block is of course their inability to sell their primary residence, typically most retirees' biggest assets. A September 13 article in the Housing Bubble Blog recounts the woes in several important California markets. The article mentions the limbo-like situation this has created for Ken Gonzales and his wife, forcing them to postpone their plans to downsize to a retirement community. Unfortunately they cannot get their price for their four-bedroom house in Riverside's Orangecrest community.
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Published on September 14, 2007
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Category: Retirement Real Estate
September 6 -- Many people, particularly those living west of the Mississippi, have considered at one time or other retiring in Mexico. After all the cost of living is usually less than half what it is in the U.S. or Canada, the winter climate is warm, and the scenery and adventures are amazing.
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Published on September 5, 2007
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Category: General Retirement Issues
September 4 -- You have probably noticed that many people are hopped up about the marketing opportunities from baby boomers as they enter their next phase of life. Even an article in the prestigious Library Journal recently encouraged librarians to get in the act too.
According to the article, designing programs and trying to attract boomers to their doors will be a win-win for libraries and for boomers entering retirement. Libraries get engaged users and volunteers who can contribute enthusiasm, skills, programs - not to mention generous donations from this incredibly wealthy segment. For those of us winding down our primary working career, libraries have a lot to offer too. Obviously the research resources are first rate and the entertainment and education possibilities endless. But engaging oneself as a volunteer can be quite rewarding as well - giving an extra dimension to one's life that won't be found on the golf course.
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Published on September 3, 2007
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Category: Retirement Real Estate
August 28 -- If you have been thinking about buying a retirement condo a recent news item in the Wall Street Journal might give you some pause. It seems that the condo market is now experiencing troubles as speculators default on their mortgages or fail to execute their purchase contracts. As banks and developers are forced to unload properties in a distressed market prices are falling, causing underwriters to lower appraisals and make loans harder to get. Feeding the fire is a rapid growth in newly built units - construction of new condos increased 145% in 2006, the highest level since 1985. It appears that new condo projects and condo/hotel conversions are the properties experiencing the most difficulty. Obviously most of these properties are not being built as retirement condos or in retirement communities - but the bad news in general markets is not without an effect on the active adult retirement market either.
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Published on August 27, 2007
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Category: Eldercare
August 25 - More than 9 out of 10 people over 65 would prefer to stay in their own homes as they grow older, according to a survey by the AARP. The desire to live where they feel comfortable amidst familiar surroundings is powerful and understandable. Unfortunately, as medical needs increase and life skills like driving decline, it often becomes more and more difficult to continue living independently. Aging adults face more than their own frailties as well, because their adult children often pressure them to move to a retirement community or Continuing Care Retirement Center (CCRC).
More and more people, according to a recent New York Times article, are starting to
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Published on August 24, 2007
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Category: Active adult communities
Madison CT -- August 15 -- Topretirements has been curious to see which towns and cities its visitors are most interested in learning more about. The results offer significant insight into what active adults think are the best towns to retire to. The top profile is generally: small town or city, Sunbelt location, vital downtown, usually with a college or university in town.
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Published on August 15, 2007
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
Updated July, 2014 -- So far 7 U.S. states have embarked on programs to identify certified retirement communities as part of their economic development plans. This article will provide a list of the certified retirement communities in those states.These states are all in the south - Mississippi, Louisiana, North Carolina, Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia. In total over 85 communities have been certified (in West Virginia they are called "designated", in Tennessee the communities are selected
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Published on August 10, 2007
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Category: Retirement Real Estate
August 7 -- For most people hoping to buy a home these days the "bad news that's really good news" just got worse. What we mean by that is that the reeling real estate market, which is experiencing lower prices and increased inventories favorable for buyers, is also now under a credit siege. Dozens of mortgage companies have gone out of business so far and the market for even the highest quality mortgages is slowing to a standstill. There might be plenty of homes for sale, but if you need a mortgage you either might have trouble getting it, or you might have to pay more for your loan.
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Published on August 7, 2007
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Category: Baby Boomer Retirement Issues
August 3, 2007 - It couldn't be more ironic for those of us in the baby boomer generation that spent the last 20 years berating our kids to "get off the darn game console and go play outside" (like we used to!). Our kids might smirk to learn that Nintendo's latest marketing coup is paying off - selling its new Wii games to baby boomers and retirement communities. A frequent marketing venue: AARP conventions!
By way of background we had better explain Wii. It is basically a device from Nintendo that you wear that allows a virtual experience on your TV - without the equipment and place to play it. So you can bowl a perfect game without a bowling alley, smash Tiger Woods-type 300 yard drives without a course - do just about anything.
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Published on August 2, 2007
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