Category: Retirement Real Estate
June 1, 2011 -- The U.S. real estate market took a severe pummeling after the long holiday weekend with the release of the latest housing figures. The widely watched S & P/Case-Shiller Index reported that national housing prices index fell 4.2% in 2011's first quarter, on top of a 3.6% decline in the 4th quarter of 2010. Prices across the country have hit new lows since the housing crash, and represent, according to economist Mark Zandi of Moody's Analytics on the PBS Newshour, the most "unprecedented"...
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Published on June 1, 2011
Comments 35
Category: Baby Boomer Retirement Issues
June 1, 2011 -- NPR is running a call-in show today asking listeners what TV show they would bring back if they were in charge of the universe. It's a contest anyone old enough to be a baby boomer might enjoy. Through the miracle of Netflix your editor just spent a few happy sessions on the exercise bike watching the 1st 3 shows in the "Have Gun Will Travel" series, which first aired in 1957. The show, as you probably remember, features Paladin, a gun for hire. One of the beauties of having lost so many brain cells...
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Published on June 1, 2011
Comments 25
Category: General Retirement Issues
June 7, 2011 -- Feeling nervous about your retirement? You wouldn't be normal if you weren't. The good news is that if you take time now to start preparing, most of your anxiety will melt away as you realize your are indeed prepared for your well-deserved retirement.
This article, which was inspired by one in the Wall Street Journal, "Ready to Retire: 5 Year Countdown", assumes that you have been working for a few years and are at least in your forties. We've set up the countdown into various periods, with particular emphasis on your last 5 working years.
R Minus 20. With 20 or more years before retirement you are lucky to...
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Published on June 7, 2011
Comments 8
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
June 7, 2011 -- Before you answer that question, consider this situation. Assume for a moment that you are age 65 and could have two retirement choices. In the first you get a portfolio that, conservatively managed, would generate $4,000 per month until it runs out of money at age 85, or $3,000/mo. until you run out of money at age 100. If you die before the age in each scenario, your heirs get whatever is left. With the second choice you get the same amount of money invested in an annuity that would also produce $4,000/mo. - except that you would get that income for as...
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Published on June 7, 2011
Comments 7
Category: Active adult communities
June 10, 2011 -- Note: This is Part I of a multi-part series from Sandy. Don't miss "Part II: How Anyone Can Afford a Warm Winter Retirement".
Sandy and Roger from Michigan have been living what a whole lot of retirees dream of doing. On and off for the past 8 years they've been out exploring dozens of active communities. Along the way they've honed their vision of the perfect community, and they are closer than ever to finding their ideal match from the ones they have visited. This article will share the icing of what they've learned ...
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Published on June 10, 2011
Comments 170
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
June 14, 2011 -- So you've been thinking about your impending retirement. We'll bet you are wondering where in the heck you should retire to, even if you are pretty sure you will end up in the group of 70% of retirees that never move more than a few miles from home in retirement. This article will give even you some powerful reasons to consider moving a lot farther away, in fact all the way to another state. Most, but not all, of the reasons have to do with money. Part 2 of this series, "Becoming a Florida Resident", will provide the nuts and bolts of how to...
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Published on June 13, 2011
Comments 105
Category: Active adult communities
June 20 - Finding the active adult community or retirement town of your dreams can be fun, but it does take some effort to do it well. Lately we have received some interesting questions about how to use Topretirements for that purpose. We'll use this post to give you some ideas - and ask for your help as well.
Question 1: You've got so many communities listed at Topretirements. How can i narrow the list down to a manageable number, short of clicking on every community in your State Directories of Active Adult and 55+ Communities?
A: We think we have some good suggestions to help...
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Published on June 20, 2011
Comments 6
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
Updated February 2018 -- The first article in this series, "Five Reasons Why You Should Retire in Another State", explored the major reasons why it might be a really good idea for you to move from the Midwest or the Northeast to a different state. In this related article we have had the good fortune to interview Barton Smith Esq., a Florida attorney who, in addition to focusing in the areas of real estate, land use and civil litigation, has helped many clients establish legal residency in the Sunshine State. While this article specifically refers to becoming a Florida resident, most if not all of the steps are similar to moving your residency to another state.
TR: Bart, thanks for taking the time to talk with us. We understand you are not giving legal advice here, but have agreed to provide some helpful overview information for Topretirements members. First off, could you tell us if there are any advantages to becoming a legal resident in Florida?
BSmith: There are obvious advantages to becoming a Florida resident. The first, and most well known, is...
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Published on June 21, 2011
Comments 38
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
June 25 -- Seems like there is no end of articles about folks delaying retirement. Millions of boomers are planning to work longer than they had intended. But just how long should you delay: how good are your reasons, and even if you don't retire - should you hold onto your current home? We will explore these questions in this short article.
There are several main reasons for delaying retirement - most, but not all of them, have to do with money.
- Haven't saved enough - need more money...
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Published on June 25, 2011
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