Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
Updated October 22, 2024 — The stunning devastation from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, so quick in succession, puts an exclamation point on climate and other natural disasters. It would not be crazy to wonder - is there anywhere you retire that is safe. And it's not just hurricanes - the natural disasters that have occurred across the U.S. in recent months are causing a lot of people to reconsider where they retire.
Where is a safe place to retire
Residents of Florida expect hurricanes and their damage, but as people in other states like the Carolinas, Tennessee, and Georgia found out last week, no one is immune from storms like these. What made Helene's damage so bad was that no one was expecting just how serious its impact was. Residents of the Asheville NC area, 500 miles away from the Florida Coast and one of the most popular areas of the country for retirement, are stranded by washed out roads and bridges, flooded infrastructure, and ruined homes. There is no power, fresh water is only available from state, local, and federal emergency supplies, and cell service is limited. Supplies are being brought in by mule trains. At least 57 people were killed in Buncombe County alone, home to the city of Asheville, and no one even knows how many more deaths will be in the final tally. Here is how you can help victims of the storm.
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Published on October 2, 2024
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Category: Uncategorized
October 7, 2024 -- The votes are in - thank you everyone who took a moment to add your voice! There are several interesting conclusions we can make from the two separate polls we recently conducted, one on your favorite cruise destinations, and the other your pick for the cruise line to get you there. We will detail those results, along with interesting comments, below.
Best Cruise Destinations
We listed 13 possible destinations for you to pick your favorite - either where you've been or want to visit. Other was another option. What we found out is there are a lot of great places to go on a cruise! When it comes to your favorites, a whole bunch of places clustered at the top. If you add all of the possible river cruises we listed, those would be the favorites, getting about 18% of the votes. Those ranged included the Rhine, Danube, other river or barge trip in Europe, plus Mississippi in the U.S. Following those was a close virtual tie for second among Scandinavia/Iceland and Alaska. Australia/New Zealand and South America/Iceland were close behind. Asia came in last place. While the number of votes cast on this poll were disappointing (gentle nudge), we feel like the results are probably pretty reasonable.
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Published on October 6, 2024
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Category: Social Security
October 8, 2024 -- With the election coming soon, the issue that most directly affects retired people is the impending Social Security and Medicare funding crisis. If nothing is done, Social Security recipients will face a 20% cut in benefits in 2035, just over 10 years from now. Medicare will run short a few years later. Therefore it is critical to know how each of our presidential candidates would address this urgent crisis.
Both Harris and Trump say they would not cut Social Security or Medicare. (Editor's note: Politically wise, easy and expedient to say, but how are they going to do it?) Here is how the New York Times summarizes the 2 candidates' positions on Medicare and Social Security. After that we have Topretirements poll results and commentary from your editor.
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Published on October 7, 2024
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Category: Social Security
Oct. 11, 2025 - The Social Security Administration announced that the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for recipients will be 2.5% in 2025. It is the smallest increase since the pandemic. Although doubtless recipients would have hoped for a bigger rise, the silver lining is it reflects the good news that inflation is slowing coming to heal. Recipients got a 3.2% boost in their benefits in 2024.
The 2.5 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to nearly 68 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2025. Increased payments to nearly 7.5 million SSI recipients will begin on December 31, 2024.
Earnings Limits
The Social Security payroll tax will be assessed on the first $176,100 of income in 2025, up from $168,600 this year. After that level, Medicare taxes continue but not those for Social Security. Many experts (and VP Harris) suggest that SS taxes continue on all income above that level, or perhaps just above a figure like $400,000. The Social Security trust funds will be exhausted by 2035, at which time the only money available to pay benefits will come from taxes on existing workers.
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Published on October 11, 2024
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
October 15, 2024 -- As if Florida condo owners didn't have enough to worry about. A deadly duo of hurricanes caused suffering and loss of human life. But Condo buildings 3 stories face other kinds of challenges, as December 31 deadlines for Florida's stringent new engineering inspections and reserve studies go into effect.
If condo and HOA boards aren't nervous about all this - they should be.
The original Building Safety Law (SB 4), and later clarified by SB 154, was a reaction to the tragic Surfside building collapse in Miami in 2021. It specifies 2 key requirements for condominium associations that will fundamentally those will affect their finances. The first is a Milestone Inspection Study, the second is the Structural Integrity Reserve Study. We will explain those in greater detail, later. But first, let's talk about how this will unfold in the real world.
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Published on October 14, 2024
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Category: Active adult communities
October 23, 2024 - Residents of Florida are concerned, rightly, about the hazards of extreme weather events like hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. So it was interesting to see how two communities, designed to take whatever Mother Nature can dish out, and located in the center of the storm area, would fare after Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Babcock Ranch near Fort Myers, and Hunters Point on Anna Maria Island weathered both storms with almost no damage, flooding, or electrical outages.
Babcock Ranch residents sat out the 'canes in safety in a designated building for refuge, and were even joined by residents of nearby towns. There was tree damage but no loss of power in either community. Communities like these are proof that with proper planning and strong building codes, people can be safe and property protected, even in the face of the ever increasing risk of climate disasters.The New York Times recently reported on the Babcock Ranch success in its "A Climate Resistant Community Passed Its First Tests" article .
The Hunters Point Blog proudly touted how well that community did in the face of the two giant storms. The difference in outcomes for these communities vs. others in other nearby areas is telling. While lives were lost, power went down for days on end, public infrastructure destroyed, homes demolished and knocked off their foundations, there was no flooding, power losses, or injuries at Babcock Ranch and Hunters Point.
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Published on October 22, 2024
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Category: Medicare
October 24, 2024 — If you think you might have a hearing problem (or more likely, if a family member says you do), you should get your hearing tested. Now that some models are available over the counter, hearing aids are becoming more affordable. One easy way to test your hearing and get an inexpensive hearing device is coming later this month from Apple. The AirPods 2 will provide an over-the-counter hearing aid for individuals with mild to moderate hearing loss, once a free software update slated for October 28 is installed.
The AirPods 2 are among the latest versions of Apple's popular earbuds. Not only do they work great (your editor loves his) for listening to books, music, podcasts, phone calls, etc., but later this month, they will also function as hearing aids.
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Published on October 23, 2024
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Category: Bucket Lists
Oct. 29, 2024 -- Sal Hyer is a former municipal employee who retired in early 2024. One of the dreams he and his wife Lisa had was to go on a long adventure across the country. He wanted to take his pickup truck, but Lisa did not want to stay in hotels. Compromise being the soul of marriage, they bought a camper. They started in July and plan on finishing the trip early November in Ft Myers, then live in Vermont for the winter. Theirs is definitely the adventure of a lifetime, we can barely contain our jealousy.
Wrangler and Newmar Dutch Star in camp
I wanted to drive my pickup truck but my wife did not want hotels so we have an RV. I am having more fun than I thought driving the big reg. I already have 7,000 miles training and using it. The Rv is a Newmar Dutch Star class A diesel pusher, and we towed a Jeep Wrangler, which was key. It was purchased Feb 2023. It was my wife's idea to get it a year + early and it was a good one. Sal Hyer
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Published on October 28, 2024
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Category: Family and Retirement
October 30, 2024 -- A reader wrote in with this unusual request for advice. It is a very common conundrum for retirees - should they move across the country to live near their adult children? Or, retire where they had planned to, and see the kids when they have the time. We thought it a good idea to put the question to the Topretirements audience to benefit from their collective wisdom, so here goes.
The couple, who are nearing retirement, live in the Northeast. Their only child, a son, married last year lives in the Midwest. He and his wife are looking forward to having children in the next few years. This past spring the son surprised his parents by asking them to consider moving to be near them, in fact sharing a house. The idea was that the parents would put up the money to build an in-law apartment or ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit), where the parents would then live.
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Published on October 29, 2024
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