Category: Bucket Lists
Editor's Note: In August 2012 we asked our visitors and members to tell us what is on their bucket lists. See the fascinating result in this article: "Wow - Your Bucket Lists Are Amazing!"
December 20, 2010 -- Maybe you've seen the movie "The Bucket List". It stars Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, both of whom have less than a year to live in the movie. The plot unfolds from there, as this odd duo goes on a road trip together trying to accomplish as much as possible in the days remaining before they "kick the bucket". We confess we haven't seen the movie, but it sounds kind of fun. The premise is so applicable to those of us who are starting out in retirement. Although we are luckier than Nicholson and Morgan in that we have more than 1 year to accomplish our list, that also carries the danger that we have so much time left that we feel like we don't have to
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Published on December 20, 2010
Comments 11
Category: General Retirement Issues
December 13, 2010 -- Remember when you took that college psychology class and you (or maybe your buddies) noticed how nicely you fit into some of the more interesting disorder diagnoses? Along those same lines, Allianz Financial has come up with a way to classify retirees. They have found 5 types: read on to see which one fits you.
Worse than Death
Their study, "Reclaiming the Future", also had two other very interesting observations:
- Most people in the study fear running out of money more than they fear death
- They also appreciate that the financial meltdown has created a retirement "crisis".
It is a little hard to imagine in advance how an insurance company might
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Published on December 13, 2010
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
December 7 -- Harrisburg, PA; Syracuse, NY; and Waco, TX are not used to being selected as "best places to retire". Yet these towns were among the top 10 on a new list of best places for retired military personnel from USAA and Military.com. The USAA lists provide a perfect illustration of why choosing a place to retire based on criteria that make sense for you is better than relying on any random list.
Retired military personnel share many common retirement needs. Many of them, particularly officers or senior noncoms, will get a substantial pension. Moving to a state where that pension won't be taxed could be worth thousands of dollars a year. Likewise, retired soldiers, sailors, airmen, and
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Published on December 7, 2010
Comments 19
Category: Active adult communities
December 3, 2010 -- The sentiment expressed in..."I could have had a V-8!" is relevant to your selection of an active adult community or retirement town: Why settle for an average retirement community when you could live in a really good one? So with that goal in mind we have assembled a list of what we think makes for a great active adult community. We welcome comments and additional criteria, as well as all reader suggested nominations.
Active Community Best Practices
1. Great communication.In our opinion the #1 thing any organization can do is communicate - effectively and openly. Whether it is the HOA or the developer, have some good ways to communicate. Websites, newsletters, agendas, meetings are all great. Agendas for meetings should be published
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Published on December 3, 2010
Comments 9
Category: Travel
Nov. 30, 2010 -- If you are the kind of person who likes adventure and convenience - two goals that are usually incompatible - retirement on a cruise ship might be for you. It's easy to see why many folks like cruises - you arrive at the dock, have your picture taken and come on board for a glass of the bubbly. Meanwhile your luggage finds your room (tipping is usually already included). You stow your clothes away (once) and then contemplate which restaurant merits your dinner reservation. After a busy night at the shows or rolling the dice, you awake to find your new home arriving in a new and exotic port. You check out those sights, then back to the ship where you .... rinse and repeat! And until it's time to go home,your job is to enjoy hassle-free travel from your moving base.
Many retirees go on cruises when they first retire. Usually they like them so much they
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Published on November 30, 2010
Comments 6
Category: International Retirement
By Kathleen Peddicord
Here are 11 things I've learned from the school of hard knocks after three international moves across three continents with two kids, a dog, a turtle, a husband, and two businesses:
1. The first step to any move abroad is to set your priorities and to be honest in the process. What matters to you most? Evenings at the theater? Friends whose company you can enjoy in English? Cost of living? A reliable Internet connection? Don't kid yourself. If you can't imagine life without a Maytag washer and dryer, for example, you may need to rethink the entire proposition.
2. Make all decisions jointly with whomever you
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Published on November 29, 2010
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
The Presidential blue ribbon panel on how to reduce the deficit revealed a draft of its plan earlier this month. We don’t know about you, but any time a proposal attracts both howls from the rabid right and screams from the liberal left, it has to be a pretty good thing. The draft report prompted us to write this article on how its draft proposals might affect you as an older baby boomer (born before 1956). It also includes information about how you can interactively fix the budget yourself - courtesy of the New York Times.
Here are some of the key aspects of the proposal from the commission co-chaired by Erskine B. Bowles and Alan K. Simpson.
In our opinion most of the
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Published on November 23, 2010
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
As our faithful readers know well, we are avid admirers of lists of the best and the worst places to retire. The more arcane the list topic, the better: (Best Places to Start Over Again, Best Places You Never Heard of, etc.). Recently we came across a list from money-rates.com of “The 10 Worst States for Retirement”. While the website undoubtedly put some careful research into developing their list, we couldn't disagree more with the results.
Money-Rates.com started off with a reasonable methodology, selecting 4 factors to help screen the list:
Economic (Unemployment, tax burden, cost of living)
Climate (Humans like 68 degrees, so the authors preferred places with the least
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Published on November 23, 2010
Comments 9
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
Editors Note: This is part of our series comparing various states as places to retire. Don't miss the first, Florida vs. Arizona Retirement, or the second, Delaware vs. Maryland vs. Virginia vs. New Jersey. There are many more "Dueling" comparisons listed at the end of this article. We welcome ideas for future ones.
Updated April 23, 2021 -- The Carolinas are a red-hot retirement destination; both North and South Carolina are popular with baby boomers for retirement. As great places to retire, both have become as popular as Florida. In this comparison we will evaluate various factors for both states that affect retirement, letting you draw your own conclusions from the facts. As always, reader input is extremely important, so we encourage you to use the Comments section below. (Note: The first version of this article was originally published in 2010 and since then has been updated many times. Because it goes way back to 2010, there are a LOT of comments which are worth reading. The latest comments are at the bottom.)
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Published on November 15, 2010
Comments 662
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
Note: We now have Part 2 of this series, which summarizes the many (over 248) comments made to this article. Obviously, we struck a nerve here!
Nov. 9, 2010 -- You might be the kind of person who wants to retire somewhere warm. You’ve identified some states where the climate is a lot better than where you are now, and where outdoor recreation is possible12 months of the year. You’ve also done your research and have chosen a state that that is tax-friendly. Chances are, the states that meet those criteria are in the South. And that probably gives rise to other questions.
Even if you have never spent any significant time in the South, you probably have an image of what life might be like be like there. Without the benefit of experience, however, that image is probably off the mark. In this article we will attempt to answer some questions to help you become better informed: Will the people in your new community be friendly? Will you, a Yankee, fit into the social and cultural ecosystem of your new southern home? Will you be able to contribute
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Published on November 9, 2010
Comments 369
