Category: Travel
October 15, 2013 -- Forty or so years ago many of us baby boomers set out for distant parts - armed with tools like a backpack, "Europe on $5 a Day", a EuroRail Pass, and a spirit of adventure. Whether it was a post-graduation trip to Europe or a motorcycle excursion out west, we experienced the joys of discovery and new experiences. Now, flash forward to us hitting retirement age and looking forward to more travel experiences. The desire is the same, but the travel might not be quite as easy as it was back in the day.
Part 1 of this 2 part series will focus on the new travel problems that baby boomers typically face as we roll up higher mileage on our personal odometers. We will also provide suggestions and tips on how to overcome these difficulties. Part 2 will go over different strategies
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Published on October 15, 2013
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Category: Retirement Real Estate
October 21, 2013 -- In the depths of the 2008 real estate meltdown many developers decided to turn their new condos into rental units, rather than take a bath on prices and unsold inventory. That strategy, for those who could afford to wait, seems to worked out rather well. If you have held off selling your home until now, the return to a stronger market could be beneficial to you too, particularly if you are not planning on replacing it.
The Wall St. Journal recently reported in "Condos Going Back Up for Sale" that many luxury rental units in places like California and Florida are now coming on the market as condos. While the pace of conversions from rental apartments to condos is a fraction of the torrent that came in pre-bust years, the rate is the highest it's been since 2008. In 2012, 2,080 apartments were converted to condos from rentals, compared to 152,206 conversions in 2005.
The trend in condo conversion confirms
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Published on October 21, 2013
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
Update Dec. 23, 2019 -- A new law, the SECURE Act of 2019, changes at least one part of this article. Effective in 2020, anyone who had not already reached 70 and 1/2 is not required to take their Required Minimum Distribution until they reach the age of 72. If you are 70 and 1/2 prior to Dec. 31, 2019, you still must take your RMDs. See "SECURE Act Signed into Law".
October 27, 2013 -- Through all those years of faithful contributions to your 401k or IRA, you probably never really thought too much about the day those savings would be used. But either now or soon in the future, that money has to come out of your account, most likely as a key component of your retirement financial picture. This article will review some of the issues you are likely to face with your 401k, IRA, or similar retirement account. Tax laws are tricky and we have attempted to paint a broad picture, there will always be exceptions to some of the general principles discussed here. We are not tax or investment experts - check with a qualified professional from this ira vs 401k article for an expert opinion.
401ks - A Review
First, a few facts. 401ks are a relatively new part of the retirement picture. They are defined contribution plans (a promise of how much will be contributed to the plan), and they were largely designed to replace defined benefit pension plans (the old days,
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Published on October 25, 2013
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