Category: Uncategorized
October 7, 2024 -- The votes are in - thank you everyone who took a moment to add your voice! There are several interesting conclusions we can make from the two separate polls we recently conducted, one on your favorite cruise destinations, and the other your pick for the cruise line to get you there. We will detail those results, along with interesting comments, below.
Best Cruise Destinations
We listed 13 possible destinations for you to pick your favorite - either where you've been or want to visit. Other was another option. What we found out is there are a lot of great places to go on a cruise! When it comes to your favorites, a whole bunch of places clustered at the top. If you add all of the possible river cruises we listed, those would be the favorites, getting about 18% of the votes. Those ranged included the Rhine, Danube, other river or barge trip in Europe, plus Mississippi in the U.S. Following those was a close virtual tie for second among Scandinavia/Iceland and Alaska. Australia/New Zealand and South America/Iceland were close behind. Asia came in last place. While the number of votes cast on this poll were disappointing (gentle nudge), we feel like the results are probably pretty reasonable.
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Published on October 6, 2024
Comments 3
Category: Uncategorized
May 2, 2024 – There’s a much cleaner look at Topretirements – there are no more Google ads on our pages. Since the site started in 2007 we have relied on the ads from the search engine giant for the bulk of the revenue that allowed us to produce this…
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Published on May 2, 2024
Comments 0
Category: Uncategorized
December 12, 2023 - We are often asked about the pros and cons of 55+ communities vs. retiring in a traditional community. In fact just last week one of our Members criticized the usefulness of our new Community Explorer because of its concentration on 55+ and active adult communities, to the exclusion of cities and towns. It is clear that people of retirement age are split - some want the 55+ or active adult lifestyle for their retirement, some want to live in a traditional community, and another significant portion isn't sure about what to do.
The Pros and Cons of 55+ Communities
We might not change any minds with this discussion of the pros and cons of 55+ communities, but at least we can help those who are on the fence decide on which option is better for them.
First let's look at the pros of living in a 55+ development with the active lifestyle.
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Published on December 11, 2023
Comments 9
Category: Uncategorized
September 19, 2023 - Quick - What is the maximum Social Security benefit in 2023? $2810/mo., $3035/month, $4193/mo., or $4,555/mo.? And, how much is the average benefit? If you guessed $4,555 as the highest benefit, which amounts to $54,660 a year, you are correct. Compared to the average 2023 recipient's payment of $1,827, that is an amazing difference!
So what is driving this $2,728 per month disparity? The answer is a combination of 3 big factors.
The first is that the Agency uses your highest 35 earning years to calculate your benefit. If you had zero or very low earnings in some of those years, that will knock down your benefit.
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Published on September 18, 2023
Comments 5
Category: Uncategorized
July 1, 2023 — We would like to thank all of our Members and visitors for their patience while we try to sort out why annoying Google ads appear when people click on Comments links in our Daily Alert. We have tried about everything, including turning off the type of…
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Published on June 30, 2023
Comments 9
Category: Uncategorized
April 3, 2023 — The new Topretirements website will launch on April 3. We are aiming for much greater simplicity in our page design and navigation throughout the site. For example, the Home page will have a much simpler and inviting look. A large, clickable state map will help members…
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Published on April 2, 2023
Comments 3
Category: Uncategorized
BULLETIN: Software glitch unsubscribed you from our Weekly Best Places Newsletter! We are sorry to burden you with this, but it appears that because of operator error and a badly designed interface, we accidentally UNSUBSCRIBED ALL of our weekly Best Places Newsletter subscribers! If you would like to continue…
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Published on January 9, 2020
Comments 5
Category: Uncategorized
July 5, 2019 — What you drive says a lot about you. And if you live in a big retirement community where the preferred way of getting around is by golf cart, why not drive something that reflects your personality?
That is what is happening in places like The Villages,where many of its 120,000 residents are getting around in golf cars that look like Corvettes, Hummers, and even 18 wheelers. It has spawned a cottage industry that customizes them into all kinds of fantasies. While an ordinary golf cart might sell for $11,000, a specially tricked out version can go for $20,000 or more, some retired couples have two of them in their carports.
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Published on July 5, 2019
Comments 5
Category: Uncategorized
January 18, 2019 – The good news is that the vast majority (90%) of Facebook users do not pass along articles that represent fake news. But the bad news is that people over 65 are seven times more likely than younger people to post about articles that are not factual.
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Published on January 18, 2019
Comments 6
Category: Uncategorized
April 3, 2017 — Our recent article about the Proposed Obamacare Replacement Bill generated some consternation among some of our Members. We had a few emails and comments to the Blog that wished we had remained apolitical (and some more colorful). Many more people were probably upset but did…
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Published on April 2, 2017
Comments 16
