Category: General Retirement Issues
September 4 -- You have probably noticed that many people are hopped up about the marketing opportunities from baby boomers as they enter their next phase of life. Even an article in the prestigious Library Journal recently encouraged librarians to get in the act too.
According to the article, designing programs and trying to attract boomers to their doors will be a win-win for libraries and for boomers entering retirement. Libraries get engaged users and volunteers who can contribute enthusiasm, skills, programs - not to mention generous donations from this incredibly wealthy segment. For those of us winding down our primary working career, libraries have a lot to offer too. Obviously the research resources are first rate and the entertainment and education possibilities endless. But engaging oneself as a volunteer can be quite rewarding as well - giving an extra dimension to one's life that won't be found on the golf course.
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Published on September 3, 2007
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Category: Retirement Real Estate
September 6 -- Many people, particularly those living west of the Mississippi, have considered at one time or other retiring in Mexico. After all the cost of living is usually less than half what it is in the U.S. or Canada, the winter climate is warm, and the scenery and adventures are amazing.
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Published on September 5, 2007
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Category: Retirement Real Estate
September 15 - An inevitable but painful result of the slowing of the housing market is that many new retirees are having to postpone planned moves to a new retirement community. The stumbling block is of course their inability to sell their primary residence, typically most retirees' biggest assets. A September 13 article in the Housing Bubble Blog recounts the woes in several important California markets. The article mentions the limbo-like situation this has created for Ken Gonzales and his wife, forcing them to postpone their plans to downsize to a retirement community. Unfortunately they cannot get their price for their four-bedroom house in Riverside's Orangecrest community.
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Published on September 14, 2007
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
September 19 -- The Federal Reserve reports that almost 19% of families headed by someone 75 or older have a mortgage - up sharply from 10% in 2001. Today's Wall Street Journal article provides some practical tips if you are in the situation of retiring before your mortgage does. You can use a calculator to determine your mortgage payments. One of the common dilemmas that many people have is what to do if you have more savings than mortgage - should you pay it off quickly and forgo the home mortgage interest deduction? Jonathan Clements suggests that you take the plunge and use some of your savings in that case to reduce your mortgage. You will lose the deduction, but paying off is a better option because your loan rate is higher than your savings rate, and most interest you earn is taxable anyway.
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Published on September 19, 2007
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Category: Active adult communities
September 22 -- When talking about retirement communities we can't tell you how many times we've heard baby boomers comment about how much they admire the traditional kind of town. You know, one with a central downtown; the kind of place where you can walk or bike to just about everything. A place with sidewalks and front porches. A community for retirement that does NOT: require a car to drive everywhere for everything, or is filled with people of only one age or interest.
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Published on September 21, 2007
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Category: Eldercare
November 16 update (original post -September 27, 2007) -- Today the Times reported that congressional hearings are looking into charges that nursing homes. It reported that "Members of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee and the Senate Special Committee on Aging proposed measures to require nursing homes to disclose ownership and to require regulators to release information about poorly managed homes."
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Published on September 27, 2007
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