Category: Cohousing
February 13, 2022 - A group of Connecticut would be homeowners and investors is greatly disappointed about the demise of Rocky Corner, a planned co-housing project in Bethany, CT. It was to be Connecticut's first collaborative living project, but ultimately failed because it took too long to develop and costs grew too high.
After years of planning, the group that sponsored it finally broke ground in 2018. Group decision making sometimes added difficulties to the process, and it took years to get the co-housing community approved by the town’s planning authorities. During that prolonged wait, a few members—even in their desperation—briefly eyed best slots not on GamStop as a way to offset mounting financial pressures. Unfortunately, rock ledge was discovered, which greatly added to the costs. Claudia Ruffle, a retired teacher and secretary, was one of the early home purchasers. She and her friend, who sold their home to buy one in Rocky Corner, were two of many who lost all of the money they put into it and are now struggling, according to a story in the New York Times.
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Published on February 12, 2022
Comments 5
Category: Health and Wellness Issues
Feb 15 - Feb 22 is heart valve disease awareness week.
As many as 11.6 million Americans are estimated to have heart valve disease, and each year around 25,000 people die from the disease. Fortunately, valve disease can usually be successfully treated in patients of all ages.
Getting personal
On a personal note, last March your editor's heart valve disease became very serious. Although I knew I had a leaking mitral valve, it was always a someday, maybe, kind of problem. Then during some exercise my heart began racing, and went into atrial flutter. Long story short, after some superb medical care I had a mitral valve repair via robot, minimally invasive. Today it is almost as if nothing ever happened. But I was lucky. Please be aware that this problem does affect millions of people. When you get your medical checkups, pay attention to anything pointing to this disease. Follow your doctor's advice. And if you experience symptoms - get help fast!
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Published on February 9, 2022
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Category: Adventurous retirement
February 8, 2022 - If you ask Kevin Hubbard what he does to stay active, grab a railing, you are about to get dizzy. A collector’s collector, the retired executive of a Fortune 500 manufacturer of industrial products has some of the most fascinating retirement interests of anyone we have ever met. Those include visiting presidential history sites, major league baseball stadiums, and his latest - U.S. National Parks. In a recent conversation Kevin was kind enough to share some of his interests. (Don't miss the companion piece to this, his wife Susan's hilarious account of his recent retirement).
Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library
U.S. Presidents
It all started with a fascination with presidential history that began in the first grade. That love of everything having to do with U.S. presidents continues to this day. It includes the homes where they were born (museums, or sometimes just a sign on the road), gravesites, and the homes where they lived. His passion also includes presidential museums. The modern era for those started with President Hoover, but before that there were more informal ones - sometimes only a room in a library. He has visited all of the key sites for presidents from Washington to Reagan, and has read biographies for all of them. To keep track of all of this collecting Kevin keeps detailed spreadsheets. We asked him about his favorites, and he suggested Hyde Park, New York. There in one place you can visit FDR’s home, the FDR Presidential Library and Museum, the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historical Site at ValKill Cottage, plus stop in at the Culinary Institute of America.
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Published on February 8, 2022
Comments 3
Category: Retirement Real Estate
February 3, 2022 -- Chances are that for most of your life it was drilled into you that home ownership is the road to economic security. Pay off that mortgage, count on rising property values, and someday you will have accumulated substantial equity. But now that you are approaching your retirement, it might be time to re-think that belief.
Our friend Ray brought to our attention a thought provoking article in the NY Times that makes the case that renting a home can be more appealing than owning one. Renting means giving up the prospect of investment gains, but more than makes up for it with hassle free living and not having to come up with big down payments and closing fees. Younger people like millennials might not have much choice in the matter, due to soaring costs of real estate, the difficulty of funding down payments, or qualifying for a mortgage. But many retirees are attracted to the rental option for a variety of reasons, which we will explore here.
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Published on February 2, 2022
Comments 11
Category: What to do in retirement
February 2, 2022 — When people retire they (and their friends and spouses!) wonder how the new retiree will fill their day. Will they just shuffle around the empty house, rearranging the tools in the garage, and counting the hours until they can crank up the riding mower? Or will…
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Published on February 2, 2022
Comments 9
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
January 26, 2022 -- A while back one of our Members asked if we could come up with a list of more unusual places to retire. As he reminded us, not everyone is looking to retire in a place that is famous, or where there are warm winters and gentle beaches. Many folks, like the couple we met this summer in Maine, relish the prospect of a morning snowshoe hike, chopping wood, or taking off in the ATV. Here is a list of unusual, and interesting places that might make them happy. Almost all are in colder climes, starting with the first one! We suspect you won't have heard of most of these off the beaten path choices before.
Homer, Alaska. Up here on the Kenai Peninsula life is pretty great, especially if you don't mind cold winters. There is sensational fishing and boating from one of the most beautiful spots anywhere. The Spit, a 4.5 mile glacial moraine that juts into Kachemak Bay, is Homer's seasonal center. It is crowded with docks, restaurants, stores, and charter outfits for fishing and adventuring.
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Published on January 25, 2022
Comments 3
Category: Active adult communities
January 22, 2022 -- Each year many of us make new year’s resolutions that we have every intention of keeping, at least for a couple of weeks. Many of those resolutions may involve health, fitness, learning, and keeping up with the technology that surrounds us. Fortunately, there are many communities that specialize in wellness and learning, and makes it a lot easier to stay on track with those resolutions all year long. Some of these unique communities listed below are for all ages and some are for those 55+, but they are all interesting and feature a fun and inspiring lifestyle.
Encanterra is an Arizona community that offers traditional amenities like golf, fine dining, and social spaces. But what makes the community unique is the hundreds of special interest clubs, travel, and exploration opportunities it provides. A good example is the technology program through which residents can take culinary classes, listen to guest speakers, educators and authors. Encanterra is made up of several neighborhoods including one for those 55+.
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Published on January 22, 2022
Comments 1
Category: Adventurous retirement
January 19, 2022 -- Bob Wells' story seems like the perfect companion piece to our recent article on non-career jobs filling the vacuum for people in their early 60s. This baby boomer used to work at a Safeway, then fell on hard times. Living in his van, he discovered that he loved the nomad life - its freedom and simplicity appealed to him. So then he started a blog and website to write about his lifestyle. While satisfying, it was not renumerative. That's when he decided to switch to videos, starting the CheapRVliving channel on YouTube, where he promotes the "nomadic tribalism" way of life.
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Published on January 19, 2022
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
January 16, 2022 -- A significant number of workers underestimate their financial needs in retirement, and that includes calculating how much they will receive from Social Security. As a result they often retire too early and start taking their Social Security before they maximize their benefit. The end result is that they face an income shortfall in their retirement years. A new study from the Boston College Center for Retirement Research has concluded that taking a non-traditional job late in one's career can help retirees avoid a serious shortfall in replacement income, and thus have a more comfortable retirement. Replacement income is defined as the ratio of a worker’s retirement income to pre-retirement income.
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Published on January 15, 2022
Comments 4
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
January 12, 2022 -- Every year we have fun coming up with a list of the very "Best Places to Retire". This list is meant to highlight retirement towns that represent exceptionally great places to retire, as measured by Member and visitor interest at Topretirements. As wonderful as these towns might be, the one where you can be happy in retirement is your best place!
To develop our 2022 list we consulted our visitor logs to find out the 20 retirement towns in the U.S. whose reviews were visited the most at Topretirements. Many of the winners were predictable, they get named to the top 10 or 20 every year, but there were several other big surprises. The hope is the list will spark some ideas for you to consider in the quest for your best place to retire. Home prices in many of these towns are above the national median, reflecting their desirability, but a surprising number offer relative bargains. Although 11 states had towns in the top 20, Arizona, Florida, and Tennessee tied for the most cities on the list with 3 each. Congratulations to all these cities and towns!
20 Best of the Best Places to Retire
Popularity on this site, as measured by online visits by our Members, was the most important criteria. On that basis, here are the most captivating places to retire in all of the U.S.
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Published on January 11, 2022
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