Category: Adventurous retirement
February 12, 2013 -- The whale spout erupted in the distance, framed against bluish icebergs and towering white peaks. On the Zodiac boat our guide changed direction slightly and cut the engine to drift into the vicinity. Then, just 30' away the whale surfaced with a deep "poomph", his warm breath shooting skyward. With a distinctive hump near the spout, this was clearly a humpback whale, about 45' long and weighing many tons.
The young whale repeatedly dove, then surfaced suddenly to blow and breathe. As time went on his displays became more and more lavish. Slowly a realization began to dawn on us - we were in the presence of a social being with a brain, using its intelligence to attempt to communicate with us. As in, "Heh funny looking black thing with all the yellow jackets on top, look at me! I can roll, dive, smack my tail flukes, show my tummy, coil and uncoil, swim under you - why are you sitting there like a dumb log in the ocean? What can you do?" The fun lasted at least 45 minutes, until our camera's memory cards were full and batteries
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Published on February 12, 2013
Comments 7
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
February 18, 2013 – Note: Our 2017 list of "The 100 Most Popular Places to Retire" is now out.
With warmer winters and generally lower taxes, it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that baby boomers think the Sunbelt has the best places to retire. Topretirements.com has just published its 7th annual list of the 100 most popular retirement spots, and it shows clear proof that the Sunbelt's retirement popularity continues -- 76 of the 100 top positions are held by towns in the Sunbelt. Florida dominates the list of best places to retire, taking 25 of the cities and towns (1 less than in 2012), followed by North Carolina (11), Arizona (9), and South Carolina (8). California, Tennessee had 6 cities each in the top 100. The highest ranking non-Sun Belt city on our list was Portland (OR) at #14. Note: To make sure you don’t miss new lists like this, sign up for our free weekly “Best Places to Retire” newsletter. See also "The Worst States for Retirement - 2014".
The Top 10
As has been the case since Topretirements published its first
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Published on February 18, 2013
Comments 623
Category: General Retirement Issues
February 19, 2013 -- What's going on in Hollywood - retirement is the hot theme of the moment. Witness white-hot Maggie Smith, who is starring in 2 current movies ("The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" and "Quartet"), not to mention "Downton Abbey". We thoroughly recommend the former, and have heard great things about the latter. But have you also seen the 40 minute film documentary about life in a retirement community, "Kingspoint"? Nominated for an Oscar, the film is self-described as a "Tale of Love, Loss, and Self-Preservation". The Huffington Post said... "It’s a magnificent film. It is the wake-up call we all need to understand the mindsets of our parents and grandparents as they contemplate the final stages of their lives.” We'll provide a review of "Kings Point" here as a warm-up to next week's article - a summary of what our members think about retirement movies in general, including their favorites.
We had heard a lot about "Kings Point" since its subject is life in a retirement community. So when it came to a nearby theater as part of the Oscar "Shorts" package, we went. Initially we weren't sure how we were going to like it.
Kings Point is an active community that was built in the 1970's. At the time retirees from the Northeast swarmed in for low cost, non-stop fun in the warm Florida sun. But as the residents have aged together, so has the community. It looks dated, as do
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Published on February 19, 2013
Comments 7
Category: General Retirement Issues
February 23, 2013 -- By now most are familiar and tend to agree with the modern adage - "Old age isn't for sissies". Wes Craven, the creator of the now classic horror film, "A Nightmare on Elm Street", has chimed in with an addendum - "Retirement is scarier than (his horror character) Freddy Krueger". It's a pretty funny Op-Ed piece he wrote in last Sunday's New York Times about his trial retirement, which we recommend to you.
It seems that Wes at age 73 was looking forward to chilling out
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Published on February 23, 2013
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Category: Retirement Real Estate
February 25, 2013 — We are curious to find out and report on what our members are thinking about when it comes to retirement living preferences – what types of towns, homes, and communities you are thinking about choosing for retirement. NOTE: Thanks to the more than 750 people who…
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Published on February 25, 2013
Comments 28
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
February 26, 2013 -- If you search on the Internet for "live like a cheapskate" you will strike a frugality bonanza. There are authors like Jeff Yeager who have written best sellers on the subject ("The Cheapskate Next Door"), plus plenty of websites offering their advice. There's even a TLC show, "Extreme Cheapskates". Our friend Robert Powell over at MarketWatch had a particularly helpful article earlier this year, "How to Retire Like a Cheapskate and Live Well". This article will roll up advice from all over into our 15 top tips for living like a cheapskate.
First of all, a little etymology - if you are going to be a cheapskate you might as well understand where the term
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Published on February 26, 2013
Comments 66
