Category: Retirement Planning
September 24, 2021 — Retirement is a modern concept. Not that long ago you worked until you dropped, or couldn’t do the job. The invention of pensions changed that for many people. Then, when Social Security started paying benefits in 1937, retirement became possible for almost everyone.
Until recently, once you retired you lived where you always did, moved in with your children, or, when you could no longer take care of yourself, transitioned to an old folks or nursing home. The landscape changed mightily in 1960 when Sun City opened with its active adult lifestyle and extensive amenities. Suddenly the idea of having fun in retirement became popular, and ever since people have been figuring out new ways to enjoy retirement.
Co-housing, Continuing Care Retirement Communities, and 55+ communities all have their devotees. But most of the innovation has come from the retirement industry, whose retirement offerings are geared to put money in their coffers when you buy into their dream.
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Published on September 24, 2021
Comments 12
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
September 15, 2021 - Members in a recent Topretirements poll gave us their number 1 considerations for choosing a place to retire. Atop the list by a large margin was climate, followed by affordability, being near friends and family, and good medical. Much further down the list were taxes and political environment.
These are all important things to think about when choosing a place to retire. But there are other, less obvious considerations that are even more critical. Here are 5 overlooked considerations that we think deserve special attention.
Do you really know the area where you about to relocate?
“Rose”, who retired to Myrtle Beach (SC), listed a perfect example of this situation in our recent poll: “Never retire where you like to visit. There are so many tourists and so much traffic it is unbearable. There is very little here that I was looking for, such as classes and like minded people.”
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Published on September 14, 2021
Comments 35
Category: Retirement Planning
September 9, 2021 — Thanks to the 300+ folks who responded to last week’s instant poll, which asked what your #1 reason for choosing a place to retire would be. Although we realize most people have multiple factors affecting their choice, the poll tried to identify the single most important.
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Published on September 8, 2021
Comments 9
Category: Retirement Planning
August 30, 2021 — We’re curious – if you had to pick one, most important reason why you would pick a place to retire (or already did), what would that be? We realize most people probably have several overlapping criteria that go into their decision, but if you had to…
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Published on August 29, 2021
Comments 22
Category: Retirement Planning
May 22, 2021— More than three-quarters of baby boomers won’t move more than a few miles away from where they live now when they retire. This article will explore the case for sticking close to home in the next phase of your life.
There must be plenty of strong arguments for staying put, since so many of us do just that. Here are some of the major ones, along with ideas on how to make that decision work.
– Family. Staying close to children and close relatives is often the best reason for retiring where you live now. Grandchildren, if we are fortunate enough to have any, are usually a great source of joy, but without all the work associated with raising our own children! So sticking close enough where you can see loved ones without a long drive or plane flight will be a regular source of happiness. In the past Covid year, those extended families who lived near one another had a big advantage many others did not.
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Published on May 21, 2021
Comments 4
Category: Life Care or CCRC
March 23, 2021 -- Whew, you finally figured out your retirement. You know where you are going to retire, what you are going to do everyday, and how you are going to pay for it all. Congratulations!
But before you get too complacent, there is an important part of your retirement plan that you might not have considered - how that plan might change if you survive into your 80s and 90s (and we hope you do!). In this article we will first talk about the key issues that need to considered in what is called forward planning, and then provide comments from Topretirements members about their planning for long term retirement.
At 65 or 70 most of us feel pretty good and are able to do most of the things we have always done. Our health might not be perfect, but we are getting along OK. Unfortunately, this won't always be the case, even though most people don't ever consider that. Our health can change in an instant - cancer, heart problem, Covid long term symptoms, stroke, or an accident. Even if we escape those scourges, old age is inevitable. If we are lucky, it will happen, and diminished faculties will come along with it. Sound long range retirement planning acknowledges this and takes steps to best manage it. Most importantly, taking forward planning into account early in the process can lead to a much more sensible retirement plan, one with fewer mistakes and do-overs.
The major long term retirement issues
These are some of the big long term retirement issues to consider. There are undoubtedly more, and we look forward to your comments and suggestions.
Health. Most of the problems that come with old age are health related. So beyond taking good care of ourselves, we need to recognize we will probably need a lot of medical care as we age. Choosing a retirement location with easy access to high quality medical care is therefore important. Living on a lake might be appealing, but if it is 100 miles from a big hospital and we have a big emergency or require treatment for a chronic condition, it is not such a good choice.
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Published on March 23, 2021
Comments 60
Category: Retirement Planning
March 9, 2021 -- It is a perennial question that affects just about everyone - when is the best time to retire? Sometimes one has no choice in the matter, such as airline pilots or military personnel who reach a maximum age or length of service. Others are laid off from a job in one's late 50's or 60's, before they wanted to stop working. Fortunately many of us get to choose when we retire. But answering that question is never easy.
Our friend Robert Powell just wrote a fabulous article on "What Is the Right Age to Retire". He outlines the major questions that need to be answered, which we will touch on here and add a few of our own.
Are you ready to FIRE?
The FIRE movement (Financial Independence Retire Early) has many adherents. They are mainly people who want to quit working as soon as they can, and they take amazing steps to save enough money to do that. It has its pitfalls and its triumphs, but it is clearly not for everyone. Certainly amassing enough money to be able to retire is a comfortable place to be. Whether you believe in FIRE or not, if you won't have enough money to live on comfortably, you are not at the right age to retire.
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Published on March 8, 2021
Comments 30
Category: Retirement Planning
February 2, 2020 -- Special thanks to frequent contributor Ed Lafreniere of Retirementhumor.net for suggesting this topic (one of several he made in response to our "Most Popular Articles of 2020" article). The mistakes people make in choosing a place to retire is a topic that always generates great interest. The three part series on "Retirement Mistakes People Make" we ran a few years ago resulted in hundreds of Comments. We recommend the whole series (see links at end), but today's article selects some of the most interesting and helpful comments from that series. We hope you find them useful.
Member Comments: Oh, the mistakes we made!Here is a summary of what our members think are the biggest retirement mistakes you can make when it comes to choosing a place to retire (some of the comments tell how to avoid making a mistake):
Country noise. Upon retirement a few years ago from the Wash. DC area I decided to move to a more rural area in NC for some tranquility. I was drawn to my home by the beautiful views and scenic rolling landscape. However, after being here a year now I have found there is just as much “noise” here as in the city. I call it “country noise” from farmers plowing their fields, trucks without mufflers, neighbors mowing their 10 acre lots, and aircraft flying over my home. -- Dale
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Published on February 1, 2021
Comments 34
Category: Retirement Planning
November 23, 2020 -- One of our favorite pieces of advice is that retirement offers a chance for a do-over on life. However life has turned out so far, most of us have the opportunity to change directions, if we want to take it. With that in mind, here are the eleven types of retirees we've seen. Which type will you be?
Note that many, if not most, people live a retirement that is a combination of many types. Have you observed other types that we should have mentioned?
11 types of retirement
Keep on Truckin'. This might be the most common type of retired person. They retire and continue to live in the same home, doing the same kind of activities they always did. They might continue to work on a less rigorous schedule. They have more time now, but their days fill up quickly with projects, TV, etc.
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Published on November 23, 2020
Comments 11
Category: Retirement Planning
August 11, 2020 — Retirement lifestyles and preferences keep evolving, and we are eager to see where our esteemed Members stand on a number of key issues. Now that we are in a pandemic preferences might even be more fluid. Please take this quick, 10 question survey on the size…
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Published on August 11, 2020
Comments 11
