Category: Retirement Planning
September 12, 2106 -- We are very grateful to the many folks who agreed to tell us their retirement planning stories, along with suggestions for improving Topretirements and ideas for articles. Here in Part 3 are six more interesting and varied adventures! See "For Further Reading at Bottom" for links to Parts 1 and 2, which generated lots and lots of Member Comments.
Note: We edited down some of the comments to fit here but have tried not to change the sense of the input we received.
From Christina - Happy in Sun City Texas
Q: Where did you live before you retired, and how old were you when retired?
A: We lived in Southern California for 32 years. I was 54 and my husband was 63 when we became empty nesters. That's when we sold our house and moved to
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Published on September 12, 2016
Comments 2
Category: Retirement Planning
Sept 3, 2016 -- Today's installment is Part 2 our series with 3 more Topretirements Members and their retirement planning stories. It is interesting how everyone has a different approach, experiences, goals, and results. You can find links to Part 1 and Part in the "Further Reading" section at end of article.
1. Vic Chooses Port Charlotte Based on Affordable Lifestyle
Vic: Although we have not yet moved to our retirement destination, Topretirements has played a key role in our strategy and planning. It is almost 5 years ago that a general Internet search resulted in subscribing to your email news feed. At that time, retirement was years away, but the concept of winding down our careers and taking the next step was becoming a frequent topic of conversation. This stage began not long after the adjustment to being “empty nesters” was firmly established. We found ourselves asking, “Who are we” or perhaps, “Who WERE we” and can we be those people again?
Our decision to purchase our eventual home four years before
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Published on September 2, 2016
Comments 66
Category: Retirement Planning
August 30, 2016 -- One of our longstanding Members, Robert M, suggested that we interview our early subscribers who are still members and see how Topretirements and its community have helped them over the years. This is his and his wife Jan's retirement planning story - which is still going on. Even though they have been with Topretirements almost 10 years, they are still 5 years away from pulling the trigger. We admire their planning spirit! We hope that their experience will prove useful to all of our members in suggesting ways to improve their retirement planning. Thanks Robert and Jan, it has been great to read how real people manage the retirement process (and thank you for your many kind comments)! Several other folks who responded to our interview request will be publishing their retirement stories in the near future.
Take it away Robert. We have tried to provide links to some of the features mentioned for your convenience.
Q: When and how did you discover Topretirements?
A: Looking at my files where I printed stuff off it looks like I found your site in late 2007/early 2008. I found it through looking for information on retirement and various states. Back then we decided we need to
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Published on August 29, 2016
Comments 4
Category: Retirement Planning
August 9, 2016 -- If you are retired or just about to retire, congratulations - this retirement survival guide is for you! You have earned your retirement - and we wish you the greatest happiness. This survival article will give you some basic guidelines for making it the happy and successful time it was meant to be. We have tried to take a broad approach to retirement survival, going beyond the financial component that is the focus of many 'survival" books. If you search online you will find lots of "retirement survival kits" for sale - the gag gifts they contain are fun, but this piece is meant to be a little more practical! You will note that for each topic we have included a link or two to more articles that give you more depth.
Make a Plan
Everything goes better with a plan. Having a thought out approach with specific
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Published on August 9, 2016
Comments 3
Category: Retirement Planning
July 26 , 2016 — A recent study of those who are about to retire vs. people who have already retireed reveals a sobering fact - pre-retirees tend to dramatically underestimate when they will retire. That underestimate is huge - between 5 and 7 years. While it displays a healthy desire to keep working, it does not appear to be realistic, given the experience of those who have retired before them.
The main finding of the study is that in the USA actual retirees saved, on average, 28 years for retirement. Pre-retirees, however, say they will save for 35 years, 7 years higher. To some extent the higher figure reflects caution and better savings intentions. But for most of them, the study concludes, it is wishful thinking.
The survey, “Future of Retirement – Generations and Journeys” was done by HSBC and covers many other retirement issues. While some people are happy to retire before their planned start date, many are not. A big reason why is that missing out on years of work means more meager retirement savings, 401(k) balances, Social Security payments, and pension payouts. And that usually results in a retirement that is not as financially secure as planned.
Many reasons why you might retire sooner than you think
This is not the first study that reports people tend to retire sooner than they say the plan to (see Further Reading below). The reasons for earlier than planned retirement are often beyond
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Published on July 26, 2016
Comments 21
Category: Retirement Planning
July 13, 2016 -- If you have been curious about how your plans for retirement stack up with other baby boomers, look no further. This article will let you compare your plans and dreams with the 1200+ community-minded members who responded to our recent "How Much Do You Expect to Receive in Retirement" survey.
The 11 questions in that survey asked how far you might move, where you intend to retire, whether you would prefer to rent or buy, financing plans, as well as your interest in a home designed for 55+ living. We also provided a space for you to tell us in your own words about your plans for moving in retirement. More than 500 people did, and there is a link to every one of those interesting comments at the end of this article. Note that last week we published these results in 2 separate articles, this article basically combines those into 1, although today's includes 3 separate groups of comments not included before.
Highlights
One thing we do know for sure, Topretirements members are way more
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Published on July 12, 2016
Comments 99
Category: Retirement Planning
July 7, 2016 -- If you have been curious about how your plans for retirements stack up with other baby boomers, look no further. The almost 1200 community-minded members who responded to last week's "How Much Do You Expect to Receive in Retirement" survey have answered your question. We will report on the results in 2 phases; Part 1 concentrates on the "Where You'll Move" questions in the survey. In Part 2 we will explore the renting vs. buying, financing, and 55+ appropriate construction topics - as well as a summary of of the over 500 comments made about your plans for moving in retirement. Here is the link to the consolidated article of all results to the survey - Members Will Retire Out of State and More.
One thing we do know for sure, Topretirements members are far more
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Published on July 7, 2016
Comments 7
Category: Retirement Planning
June 28, 2016 -- As we completed our latest Member survey (Where to Next?) it seemed like an excellent time to provide you with a rundown of all the surveys we've done in the past. Frankly, we think they contain an amazing trove of your collective wisdom - not only the insightful comments made in the surveys themselves but also the Comments made after we published the results. You can see the results of the Where to Next Survey at (see "Where to Next Results ".
To that end, here is a quick capsule of all these surveys (the titles are links to the entire reports). Even though some surveys were done as early as 2010, they still make for interesting and practical reading! One interesting thing we found while summarizing all of our previous surveys is how the basic results stay so close from survey to survey and year to year. For example
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Published on June 28, 2016
Comments 0
Category: Retirement Planning
June 22, 2016 — Where will you live in retirement? Will it be in your current home, or something completely new in a very different region? Would you ever consider renting? Please take this quick 10 question, multiple choice survey and let us know. We will use your responses to…
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Published on June 22, 2016
Comments 3
Category: Life Care or CCRC
February 27, 2016 -- One of the best pieces of advice we have heard about retirement is to take the long view, rather than just focusing on the early years. The long view idea is to find a place to retire where you can live the rest of your life - regardless of your health or ability to do various activities - without having to move again. And one of the best ways to do this is to choose a Life Plan Community (sometimes Life Care), which are also referred to as Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs).
Life Communities, of which there are about 2,000 in the U.S., combine the best of several worlds in one package. New residents typically live in a nice apartment or small home that isn't much different from what you would see in an active adult or 55+ community. There are extensive community facilities, amenities, transportation, and social and cultural programs. The campuses are usually quite compact - often you can walk to everything without having to
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Published on February 27, 2016
Comments 15
