Category: Estate Planning
January 14, 2025 - Green Burials are growing trend among very environmentally conscious people. The numbers are pretty small, but they are catching on. The idea is that your body is disposed of in a way that is friendly to the planet: no preservatives used in embalming, non-biodegradable materials, or burial methods that harm the environment.
The Veterans Administration is now making a green burial an option at certain of their cemeteries. In November 2024, VA’s National Cemetery Administration (NCA) officially opened Green Burial sections at the Pikes Peak National Cemetery in Colorado Springs, Colorado; the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona in Phoenix, Arizona, and Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Florida. The number of green burial sites at each cemetery are 152, 155 and 222, respectively.
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Published on January 13, 2025
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Category: General Retirement Issues
January 3, 2023 -- The most read retirement articles of 2023 at Topretirements are always interesting to look at. That is because although we are often convinced a topic will hit a sweet spot for our Members, it doesn't always work out that way. 10 Myths That Could Sink Your Retirement was one of those with a disappointing response, although it did generate 12 interesting Comments. Another surprise - topics that we have written about many times continue to turn up again as popular favorites ("Where Is the Best Place to Retire"). Often times a guest post turns out to be very popular. For example, "My Life in God's Waiting Room" (Florida) by Lisa Black, a civilian forensic scientist, and "Elizabeth Loves Her Retirement in Portugal", were two we were fortunate to receive by Topretirements fans.
The 10 Most Read Retirement Articles of 2023
This is the list of the 10 articles at Topretirement that attracted the most readership at Topretirements last year. One conclusion that could be drawn from them is that anything having to do with "best places", either towns or communities, is probably going to be popular. Our members also like hearing the perspective of other members who have explored places to retire, like Yolande's somewhat scathing review of St. George, Utah.
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Published on January 2, 2024
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Category: General Retirement Issues
This interview with the author Lisa Black first appeared on JungleRedWriters.com. We are reprinting part of it here with permission because her positive take on Florida and retirees is so interesting. Lisa's new book is What Harms You.
Lisa Black
God's Waiting Room - otherwise known as southern Florida
Yes, it's a sarcastic moniker with a degree of not only truth, but pride. And yes, I am surrounded by retirees (and hoping to join their ranks within the next five years), and because of that, I am surrounded by stories. Fascinating, hilarious, sometimes poignant stories, and every day I encounter new ones.
(paid link)
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Published on July 9, 2023
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Category: General Retirement Issues
December 27, 2022 -- In many ways 2022 was better than 2021, and far superior to the pandemic ruined bust that was 2020. People finally got to take all of their postponed trips from years before, so traveling is back. Fear of dying from Covid relaxed a bit, although all was not joy due to inflation and stock market worries. Here are our favorite things and articles from the past year.
We are hoping is that you will add your favorites from the various categories in the Comments section below. It could be your favorite anything! It is always amazing to see how rich and interesting your suggestions are, and how different people's tastes are.
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Published on December 27, 2022
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Category: General Retirement Issues
December 20, 2022 - There is a new crush of retirees coming to town, and they are not Baby Boomers. Generation X, those born from 1965 to 1980, are finally getting their turn in the retirement spotlight, a very big demographic shift in the making. The eldest GenX-ers will turn 58 in 2023, the age when many people start retiring in earnest. But how ready for retirement will this new generation be, and how will it differ from the baby boomers before them?
Confident?
Fortunately, many in the Gen X generation have been preparing for retirement. Most have been saving for that day, confident about their money skills, but worried that they might fall short of what it takes to maintain their working day lifestyles. Of course, either from choice or necessity, not all of they will retire early, or ever.
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Published on December 19, 2022
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Category: General Retirement Issues
Sept. 21, 2022 — Topretirements is about to enter its 17th year, hard to believe. During that time we have covered about every topic we could think of, from best places in all kinds of categories, to Medicare and Social Security, to what to do in retirement, and a whole…
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Published on September 21, 2022
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Category: General Retirement Issues
December 29, 2021 — This year has been mighty interesting. As 2021 winds down and we look with hope for a happier, less chaotic 2022, it is always enlightening to peer backwards. Which topics and articles resonated the most with our Members, and which ones were duds – knowing that…
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Published on December 28, 2021
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Category: General Retirement Issues
October 3, 2021 — Subscribers to our Daily Alert were probably confused on Sunday, Oct. 3 when they received 3 copies of the same email. We are sorry about that. Probably as a result of our server being bombarded by someone try to index our content, the Oct 1 and…
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Published on October 3, 2021
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Category: General Retirement Issues
April 1, 2021 -- Almost every week we get a request from a visitor or Member: "How do I find something or other on Topretirements?" Like many sites, Topretirements is a big one with a lot of different kinds of information. Even if you have visited here many times it can be tricky to track something down. This short article will provide an orientation and quick guide to help you get to what you want, quickly.
The best clue to finding what you want to know is to ask, "What kind of information is it I want":
About a City. There are 2 main ways to find one of our over 1,200 City reviews (and it will differ somewhat depending if you are on a computer vs. a phone or Ipad). On a computer use the orange pulldown menu at top right to select a State. On a phone, use the 3 horizontal lines to open up this and other choices. Then scroll down the page until you see the City you want, then click on it. A second way to find them is to click on the "Best Places" link at the top of all pages. When you get there use the pulldown to select State, or click on the State you want on the map.
You can also add your Comments about a City or Community by going to the bottom of a Review and looking for "What People Are Saying About (name of city)". See example below:
About a 55+ or Active Adult Community. To find one of our over 4,500 community reviews use the same two methods as above. But when you get to the Directory page listing all of the cities in that State, you will see a list of all communities in or around that city.
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Published on April 14, 2021
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
January 6, 2020 - The coronavirus and the election might have been the two big national stories in 2020, but Topretirements Members and visitors had some other issues on their minds as well. We published almost 100 Blog stories last year, and it turns out that once again, features that highlight great places to retire almost always come out on top. Here are the most popular articles on Topretirements last year, 2020. As always, we appreciate any future story ideas you might have too.
20 Great Places to Retire on a Lake. This article picked the top 20 communities from the 122 lake towns reviewed on Topretirements. We focused on places where it is possible to live on or near the lake, with some kind of nearby town for entertainment and the necessities of life. This story from January was the runaway favorite of the year.
10 Best of the Best Places to Retire for 2020 In this "Best of the Best" review, we picked 10 towns from lists of our 60 Best Retirement Towns in three major U.S. retirement regions. Asheville (NC), a frequent winner, came out of top.
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Published on January 6, 2021
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