Category: Active adult communities
March 6, 2012 -- Residents at Harbor’s Edge in Norfolk, Virginia are cheering today, celebrating the reversal of an unpopular policy prohibiting assisted living residents from eating in dining rooms reserved for independent living. The policy change was made in the face of negative publicity supporting long term residents who, after dining for years with friends and co-residents, found they could no longer eat in the same dining rooms. The threat that the policy might have violated the Fair Housing Act and/or the Americans with Disabilities Act could have also been a factor.
Judith Schapiro was one of the affected Harbor’s Edge residents who were briefly barred from the waterfront
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Published on March 6, 2012
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
March 7, 2012 -- One of the most persistent questions we get at Topretirements concerns how to get started looking for a place to retire. This is hardly surprising; the world is a very big place, and when you first start out looking at retirement locations the choices can seem overwhelming. Sometimes the questions we get are quite broad, e.g.: "I am about to retire. Can you tell give me some ideas on good places", while others are amazingly specific, e.g.: "Can someone help me find a listing of Manufactured Home communities on the Gulf of Mexico side where you own the mobile as well as the land?" This article will give you a basic course on
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Published on March 7, 2012
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Category: Adventurous retirement
This is the latest in our series exploring different retirement lifestyles. Here is where you can find more retirement profiles. If you know a boomer retirement we should learn about use the Contact Us link to tell us about it.
Of all of the people we have interviewed in this series of adventurous retirements, Gail and Allen Hinand win the prize for putting the most thought and preparation into retirement. Their search led/took them from Boston to San Francisco, Key West, and (eventually) Claremont (California) in pursuit of a multi-phase retirement - one that would work from early retirement to old age. As you will see, this planning has paid off to give them a rich and rewarding life for their post-working years.
What they did
The couple grew up in the West; Allen in Montana and Gail in Washington State. They went to college in
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Published on March 9, 2012
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Category: LGBT Retirement
By Shannon Keating
Note: We had a guest post from Dave Hughes in 2015 with 10 more LGBT-friendly cities.
From time to time we hear from members who are interested in a gay-friendly or at least gay-tolerant town. Retiring in LGBT-friendly communities can have enormous benefits, and not only for gays and lesbians. Those interested in progressive politics, activism, and youthful, artsy ambiances will generally find what they are looking for in pro-LGBT spaces; we have outlined some of our favorites below.
But before making the move to one of these communities, what do gays and lesbians need to watch out for in the relocation and real estate process? We'll give you a few things to consider to make your move as seamless as possible.
The LGBT cities we love, and why
The benefits of gay-friendly cities extend far beyond the creation and maintenance of safe, exciting
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Published on March 11, 2012
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
March 13, 2012 -- If you haven't asked yourself this question lately we are willing to bet you are either super-rich, or completely oblivious. But, after you posed the question - did you give yourself an honest answer? Based on the evidence we see, most baby boomers are in denial about their retirement finances. Indeed, the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College estimates that some 51% of potential retirees are at risk of not having enough money to maintain their current lifestyle. In this article we will try to ask some important questions and deliver practical recommendations in case your financial retirement picture doesn't look that solid. There are also links to related features that might be helpful.
Taking Stock
1. Income. Step 1 is to determine what your income will be after
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Published on March 13, 2012
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Category: Adventurous retirement
How Don Stark turned a passion for diving into a major retirement activity is the latest in our series of interesting baby boomer profiles. Here is his story as told to Patricia Kennedy. If you know a boomer retirement we should know about tell us via the Contact Us link.
I went to college thinking that I wanted to be a pharmacist because that would be a good way to own my own business. By the time I graduated, chain pharmacies were taking over. After college, I did work – for a short time -- for one of those mega-chains, decided I didn’t like it, and headed off to graduate school. Eventually, I became a business development consultant for pharmaceutical and biotech companies specializing in oncology. I still do projects for a couple of clients, but no longer reach out to develop new business.
Initial Plans for Retirement
In the early 90s, I friend introduced me to scuba diving which has been my passion ever since. My wife and I now spend about half the year in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands. The rest of the year we’re in Burlington, Vermont.
With a partner I direct the Turks and Caicos Reef Fund (www.tcreef.org), a non-profit organization to help protect the marine environment in the Turks and Caicos. We only started two years ago,
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Published on March 17, 2012
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Category: Active adult communities
Updated December 20, 2017 -- Originally published March 20, 2012 -- This is a frequent question we get at Topretirements: "Where in North or South Carolina is there a retirement community that has similar amenities as The Villages in Florida? I am not looking for size, I'm looking for the same quality of life that I have enjoyed for the last 5 years here in the Villages". Here is our take on that question, concentrating on the Eastern U.S. (for the Western U.S. see "Does The Villages Have Any Alternatives").
Parking at The Villages
A Refresher, What is The Villages
For those not familiar with it, The Villages, located south of Ocala in Central Florida, is one of the largest active communities in the world with over 110,000 residents. The Villages has 3 town squares (Spanish Springs, Lake Sumter Landing, and Brownwood) that provide shopping, restaurants, and
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Published on March 20, 2012
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Category: Adventurous retirement
Tom Nee’s love of riding his horse and getting paid to do so is the latest in our series of interesting baby boomer profiles. Here is his story as told to Patricia Kennedy. If you know a boomer retirement we should know about tell us via the Contact Us link.
I am officially retired now, but still work the calf and yearling sales at the Green City, Missouri Livestock Market. The best thing about this work is that I am paid to use a horse. I have used other horses, but now I use Rooster, a bay roan Quarter Horse that I pasture for a neighbor.
Although I was raised in the suburbs of Kansas City, Missouri, I’ve been working around cattle and horses all my life. My wife Jean and I have ranched in southern Missouri, managed ranches in NW and NC Missouri and in 2006 I retired from the United States Department of Agriculture as the Executive Director of Grundy County, Missouri Farm Service Agency Office. In that job I oversaw USDA agriculture payment programs — grain loans, Conservation Reserve Program payments, low-interest loans to replace essential buildings destroyed in a storm.
Now, with the help of Rooster, I work with a team of other horsemen as we move cattle from one holding-pen to another on sale days. On the day the embedded pictures were taken, the market
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Published on March 24, 2012
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
March 27, 2012 -- Last month we asked our members to briefly share with us where they are thinking about retiring, and why. The results are in, and they are fascinating - the diversity and common sense approaches to decision making are guaranteed to get you thinking. We are grateful to the more than 220 people who took the time to tell us about their retirement destination plans. One side benefit was finding about several active adult communities not on our radar. We especially enjoyed hearing from the folks who haven't yet decided on a place, but nevertheless let us in on their their often conflicted thought process. And to those of you who didn't respond - you owe your fellow members a big favor! The thoughtful input they so graciously provided is going to be very useful to you (see below). You can see the actual responses in the Comments section of "Tell Us Where You Are Going to Retire - and Why".
Where you are retiring - your best places to retire
There was a pretty clear pattern to where our members have decided, or are leaning towards, retiring. A handful of states got most of the votes, although
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Published on March 27, 2012
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