Category: Retirement 101 Course
February 20, 2019 --- By now you have hopefully taken our online "Retirement Preparation Quiz" and seen your score. If you haven't, you can take it here. Please realize that the original passing score (70%) was chosen subjectively - your opinion of the state of your retirement preparation is undoubtedly better than ours. We hope that by presenting the questions and reasons for the correct answers you can increase your understanding of retirement preparation. Note that for most of the questions we have provided a link to an article on that topic so you can explore it in greater detail.
Notes about the results
Almost 1100 people had taken the quiz as of Feb. 26. The average score for everyone taking the test was about 69%. That prompted us to lower the "passing" grade to 60% (from 70%), since many of the factual questions were difficult. In addition, for some of the questions that had more than 2 choices (e.g.; yes, no, somewhat) more than one answer might be considered acceptable. We have posted the percentage (%) of people who got each question right next the correct answers.
The questions that were most often missed were #3 and #8. Number 3 asked which of three investments had the best guarantee of income. Only 39% selected the "correct" answer, annuity, probably because people didn't realize the key word was "income", and assumed we meant "return". Number 8, age of breakeven for delaying SS until age 70, was answered correctly by only 34%. We can see why, because not all experts agree on the consensus answer of 81-82. All of the questions we asked about progress on preparation and/or discussion with spouse/family members had strong results, usually 80% or better. That is good news, indicating that there is a lot of planning and discussing going on. Somewhat distressing were the responses to questions 9 and 10 on wills and health care directives. Almost one third of quiz takers do not have one or the other of those, so it is time for them to get busy on those important tasks. Only about half (53%) have spent time thinking about "late" retirement. The questions with the highest % of correct answers were those that had to do with planning on what type of community or home they want to live in - 90% or more said they had.
Question 01 What is the average life expectancy of a woman and a man aged 65 years?
90 and 86
87 (woman) and 84 (man) - Correct (64%)
80 and 77
Comment: If you manage to live to the age of 65 you still have a long way to go - on average! This is a good thing to know when you consider when to take Social Security and budget your retirement - outliving your money is not pleasant. (Note: We added the age of a woman to this question following a Member suggestion).
more...
Published on February 19, 2019
Comments 4
Category: Retirement 101 Course
January 23, 2019 -- We had so many wonderful suggestions (48 comments in all!) on the future direction of our Retirement 101 Course (Module 1) - thank you! They were so helpful that we felt it important to summarize them here. This is a list of all the current "Retirement 101 Training Modules".
We had proposed 17 different potential modules for the course. The idea was that people could take as many as they felt they needed for their retirement planning preparation. The comments contained solid endorsement and/or additional ideas on six of our seventeen. But even better, you suggested seven topics we hadn't thought of, and all of them were interesting. Another way to look at these suggestions is that they are a great reflection of people's concerns about retirement - the topics that keep people up at night!
The new topics that got the most interest were "retiring without a lot of money", "being single in retirement", "loneliness and social relationships in retirement", and "the family bind/sandwich/family relationships". Interesting that so many have to do with the social aspect of retirement, a topic that gets overlooked in retirement planning. We have selected some of the representative suggestions below (and as you will see, they were great!). Of course, we welcome more ideas for the series too!
more...
Published on January 22, 2019
Comments 10
Category: Retirement 101 Course
Updated February 25, 2021 (Originally January, 2019) — We’ve heard it said that new parents shouldn’t have their new babies released to them until they have passed a child rearing class. Something similar might be said for retirees - retirement is far too important a project to undertake without some preparation and planning. To that end we have created a multipart online training class on retirement preparation - and this is the first Module. As we imagine it, people can take the course years before they actually pull the retirement trigger. It can also be used as refresher training for those who are already enjoying their retirements.
At this point the course has 10 modules (see list at bottom), but we are not stopping there. Our members have suggested the themes for several of the modules (see Comments section below), and we will continue to add more in the years to come.
more...
Published on December 31, 2018
Comments 50
Category: Retirement Planning
December 19, 2018 -- Retirement is not always perfect, even for the people who are the most prepared for it. Our Member surveys indicate that most of the people who visit this website are very satisfied with their retirement, but there is almost always room for improvement. So when saw a recent survey from Global Atlantic that listed the top three retirement regrets, we were curious. Particularly, we wanted to compare the regrets in that survey with the results from our own surveys, asking about retirement satisfaction. After you read our comparison we hope you will all provide us comments about your retirement regrets and concerns (as well as what is great about it)!
The survey from Global Atlantic was concerned mostly with financial regrets. Our surveys were broader than that, exploring all types of concerns and worries, not just financial. Note that there is a semantic differences between regrets and concerns, although both have negative connotations. Regrets seem to be about the past, and concerns/worries are more present and future.
more...
Published on December 18, 2018
Comments 25
Category: Retirement Planning
December 5, 2018 -- This is Part 2 of our report on our recent Snowbird Survey. Part 1, "Florida is Favorite Snowbird Destination", contained the detailed results on the survey's first 9 questions. This installment is mostly made up of verbatim comments detailing where people snowbird to, and how they get there. Because these are actual comments from real people on this issue, we think you will find it a great source of ideas and comparisons to your own thoughts and experiences.
This article has three sections: Section 1 will start will overall observations, Section 2 is a sampling of 351 overall comments made to Question 10, "Anything More to Say", and Section 3 has a link to all 166 comments made to Question 8, "How Hard Was It to Find a Place to Snowbird".
Section 1: Observations
Driving vs. Flying. More people drive to their snowbird destination than fly; the ratio is about 3 to 1 in favor of driving. Top reasons for driving include: having a car at the destination, more room for stuff, taking pets, and visiting/exploring on the way are . Avoiding a multi-day, long drive is a top reason for flying. Many people who fly either keep a car at the destination, or have the car driven down.
East vs. West snowbirds. As is usually the case with Topretirements surveys, the majority of our audience is east coast based, mostly from the Northeast or Midwest. Although there were some folks who cross the Mississippi to either
more...
Published on December 4, 2018
Comments 16
Category: Retirement Planning
November 26, 2018 -- Thanks to the almost 700 members who generously contributed their insights to last week's "Snowbird" poll. We appreciate you sharing! As promised, here in Part 1 is our first detailed report on the summary for each question. Part 2 features a compilation of the most popular snowbird pairings (where our Members say they want to snowbird to, and from where), along with how they get there and other details of their migrations.
HighlightsYour input confirms many of our pre-conceived opinions, along with some surprises. For example, it is not news that the top snowbird destination states are Florida, Arizona, and South Carolina - in that order. But we were surprised by how many people have a reverse migration pattern; they pack up and go somewhere cooler in the summer. One Member called himself a "sweatbird", "shadebird" might be another handle!
more...
Published on November 26, 2018
Comments 13
Category: Retirement Planning
October 31, 2018 -- A provocative question we hear from time to time is, "Where do you think you'll be, and what will you be doing, when you turn 80 and move toward 90?" Forward thinking helps insure that you arrive at the place that you want to be, ready for the challenges that might be there.
The purpose of this short article is to solicit brief answers from our Topretirements community on this question - how will your lifestyle differ from what it is now in your 60s or 70s? Please refrain from saying you will probably be dead - half of us will live into our 80s - and we need to understand what we should be
more...
Published on October 30, 2018
Comments 44
Category: Retirement Planning
September 25, 2018 — We love your Comments to the Topretirements.com Blog! Our Members consistently say they are one of the most valuable features of this site. BUT….one of our regular contributors made yet a great suggestion that might make this feature even better. He is frustrated with some Comments…
more...
Published on September 24, 2018
Comments 0
Category: Retirement Planning
By Bob Stacy
National Institute of Transition Planning
September 15, 2018 -- I am consistently amazed when conducting my NITP “Transition to Retirement” sessions when I ask participants a very simple question: "Do you know how much you spend each year?" The answer is almost universally "no"!
Retirement income should be easier to calculate
In preparing for retirement you should know approximately what your income will be. If you are a federal or state worker or you are employed by a larger company, you can visit your HR department and have them provide an estimate of your annuity or pension, which will probably be your main source of retirement income. Then you can add other possible sources of projected income such as 401Ks, Social Security, investment income, TSPs, part-time work and maybe even inheritance. If you don't have a pension, it will probably be slightly easier to estimate your income.
No matter how much income you may have forthcoming, no one should retire if you don’t know what you actually spend each month. Running out of money in retirement is one of the worst things that can happen to you. So I suggest that you not consider retirement until you know your
more...
Published on September 13, 2018
Comments 4
Category: Downsizing
August 6, 2018 -- In addition to death and taxes, you can add one more to the list of things you can't avoid. Whether you call it decluttering, ridding out, or downsizing - the job has to be done, sooner or later. Sooner.... if you plan on moving to a different home in retirement. Later... even if you die without emptying out your basement, attic, garage, overflowing closets, and countless drawers - your children or heirs are going to have the thankless task of getting rid of everything you managed to hoard all these years. And the job is even harder if you plan on moving to a tiny home, boat, or RV.
Last year we surveyed our Members to find out how they are doing at downsizing. The answer is
more...
Published on August 5, 2018
Comments 15
