Category: Eldercare
January 24, 2017 -- Earlier this month we wrote about "The Retirement Wrecker You Never Considered", which turned out to be about adult children that fail to fledge. Today we will tackle the other half of the sandwich that often squeezes baby boomers; what happens when elderly parents and relatives need help that interferes with your retirement plans. We are certainly not saying that having elderly parents is a "problem", it is a blessing if you get to enjoy your parents and relatives as they age. Unfortunately for some adult children, they experience challenges with their parents that can turn into a problem for their retirement plans. We know many of you have had experience dealing with this sometimes difficult issue, and hope you will contribute your knowledge and experience in the Comments section below.
To get started we have 11 tips to offer when it looks like your elders need more help but don't seem to want to get it. After that we have re-posted some comments on this same topic from the past. Obviously there is a range of
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Published on January 24, 2017
Comments 21
Category: Family and Retirement
Editor's note: The family we described in this article are not real, they are hypothetical. However the kinds of problems they experienced are real and painful. For a variety of reasons, more and more Americans are living in multi-generational households - 31% of those aged 25- to 29 in 2014 were living in households with parents and/or grandparents.
January 3, 2107 --June and Jim thought that their exquisitely laid retirement plan was solid. They had done so many things well - they had set up a regular savings plan, hired a good financial advisor, thought about how they would stay busy, and even made some scouting trips to potential retirement destinations. But due to circumstances they never imagined, June and Jim are worried that their retirement dream is probably finished - before it even started.
The problem wasn’t with the couple’s plan, it was their adult children. Margaret had been a great student and athlete in high school and even into college. But she lost focus somewhere along the line, and even though she graduated with a B.A. she couldn’t land a good job. So she moved back home, where she remains, not making enough to move out on her own, and her parents haven’t have the heart to ask her to pay rent. That was 5 years ago.
Justin also did well until he
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Published on January 3, 2017
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Category: Family and Retirement
August 3, 2016 - Two weeks ago your editor became a grandparent for the first time. Having just about the most beautiful, precious child in the universe made us think - how can we help her become the best and happiest person she can be, and what can we do to support the new parents? In this article we’ve tried to include the major grandparenting topics, and for each of them some of the best tips we’ve heard or read about. However, our experience is very limited - under two weeks! We are hoping that our Members will chime in with their best ideas in the Comments section below - making this a shared community where we are all help each other enjoy the experience.
All of our friends and relatives rave about the grandchildren experience, whether they are retired or not. Life-changing and joy are two of the words that come up most
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Published on August 2, 2016
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Category: Family and Retirement
January 13, 2016 -- Baby boomers have long been the vanguard of a host of social changes - and it continues. Susan Brown, a sociologist at Bowling Green State University, estimates that 650,000 people over the age of 50 divorced in 2010, most of them boomers. While ending a marital bond might end a long period of unhappiness and even open the way to a new life, it does come at an economic cost.
It is an age old problem; when the proverbial marital blanket is split in half,
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Published on January 12, 2016
Comments 34
Category: Family and Retirement
October 21, 2105 -- Many of us baby boomers are talking a lot about downsizing, in fact some of our most popular and commented upon articles are on that topic (see further reading below). But there is one aspect of downsizing that doesn't get mentioned as often - your dog.
Americans love their pets, especially their dogs. But as we enter retirement it is worth some time thinking about whether or not you want to have a dog when your current one goes on to Fido heaven, and if you do, what type and particularly, size. We know that many people, including your editor's wife, could not face living without a
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Published on October 21, 2015
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Category: Family and Retirement
August 13, 2015 -- One of the unpleasant aspects of being a baby boomer at this stage of our lives is realizing that our own mortality is inevitable, after all. Loved ones and dear friends are starting to pass on in growing numbers... some day we are pretty certain we will too. Dealing with that loss has many difficult aspects, so this article launches a series of how-tos on the subject.
Nextavenue.org, one of our favorite websites, had some great articles on the topic recently. We will add our thoughts to two of those here, and provide you with
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Published on August 12, 2015
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Category: Family and Retirement
June 27, 2015 — Most people are in relationships. Making decisions that involve a couple is complicated, starting with the obvious - there are two people’s needs and wants involved. Reconciling the dreams and goals of two different people is a challenge, but one that can bring much happiness and joy if done successfully. The goal of this article is to help couples find effective strategies to achieve success in their retirement planning.
Two years ago we surveyed our Topretirements Members on Spousal Compatibility. Over 600 folks completed the survey and provided a wealth of data, opinions, and great advice. You will find a link to the results of that survey at the bottom of this article. In this space we will discuss some of the most difficult issues that the survey turned up, along with a summary of the advice we received from our members on how to handle those challenges. We know that you enjoy reading about the experiences of actual people in your situation, so we hope you find these anecdotes useful. We especially look forward to your additional Comments at the end of the article.
A Suggestion
One way to use the information in this article is for both
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Published on June 27, 2015
Comments 76
Category: Family and Retirement
May 23, 2015 -- Americans are crazy about their pets. There were 164 million pets in the U.S. in 2012, according to the Humane Society of the U.S., with about 62% of households having a pet. Pet ownership for retirees, however, is a little different than it is for younger Americans. The Retirement section of the New York Times recently did a feature, "Pets of the Golden Years", which profiled some of those differences. This article will highlight some of the issues that affect retirees and their pets (see end of article for our previous articles on this topic).
Some differences
For starters, a smaller percentage of retirees own pets than
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Published on May 23, 2015
Comments 57
Category: Family and Retirement
December 15, 2014 -- The calendar is ticking down for buying holiday gifts for that special retiree. So thanks to input from our frequent contributor Jan Cullinane, here are a few book ideas to stimulate your thought process. We've added some other non-book suggestions at the end.
Books (all available at your favorite independent book store, or search by title on Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble.com):
1. Working: Great Jobs for Everyone 50+ by Kerry Hannon
2. Finances: Money for Life by Steve Vernon
3. Being happy in retirement: How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free: Retirement Wisdom That You Won't Get from Your Financial Advisor by Ernie Zelinski
4. How we think about money: Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes and How to Correct Them: Lessons from the Life-Changing Science of Behavioral Economics by Gary Belsky. (Jan notes that this one is a favorite because she's heavily into behavioral economics –
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Published on December 15, 2014
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Category: Family and Retirement
March 25, 2014 -- Couples might joke about it with their friends, but the nitty-gritty issues of handling a "1 person working, 1 person retired" relationship is no laughing matter. For example, one spouse might have taken early retirement and now enjoys most mornings on the golf course or drinking coffee with friends. Meanwhile his partner is working away on the job - bringing in a paycheck and having a completely different
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Published on March 25, 2014
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