Category: Active adult communities
Updated Sept. 2016 - This updates our 2009 article on Home Owner Associations, the introductory piece of a 3 part series about these important, but controversial organizations (often called Community Associations). The 2nd in the series features an insightful interview with Joe West, CEO of the Community Associations Network about the issues buyers should know about Home Owners Associations before they sign on the dotted line. Part 3 focuses
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Published on November 9, 2009
Comments 94
Category: International Retirement
Nicaragua CoastIf you believe the marketing hype you can retire to any number of offshore paradises and live like a prince on social security - or less. In our opinion it certainly is possible, but there might be some important trade-offs along the way. Forbes just had a a great article, Americans Find a Retirement Haven in France, that raised several important things to consider about expatriate retirements. Here are our 10 tips to consider
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Published on October 27, 2009
Comments 10
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
October 26, 2009 - (Editor's Note: There are several articles in this "Affordable Places to Retire" series. See "Further Reading" at end for links to the rest in the series)
In our recent article, "Whackiest Best Places to Retire List", we poked a little fun at some of the "Best Places to Retire" lists our big named publishing brethren keeping come up with. In so doing we promised to come up with our own "Best Affordable List", and here it is.
St. Petersburg Harbor
The exercise of identifying our "Affordable" List proved to be very interesting, and challenging, on many levels (see end of article for further explanation). The major challenge was exactly what criteria would we apply? Would
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Published on October 26, 2009
Comments 109
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
Readers love best places to retire (or live) lists. Publishers are crazy about them because... (read first sentence again). But good grief, is there is no end to zany lists?
Consider three such lists put out recently. First one from U.S. News, another in a long string of "best places to live" from this magazine.
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Published on October 19, 2009
Comments 3
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
October 15, 2009. It's official, there will be no social security COLA (Cost of Living Allowance) increase in 2010, the first time this has happened since 1975. The reason is simple, this year there was no increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W) from the third quarter of 2008 to the third quarter of 2009, hence no need for a payment.
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Published on October 15, 2009
Comments 9
Category: Baby Boomer Retirement Issues
Note: This is the 3rd in a 3 article series about baby boomers and their retirement real estate plans. Part 1 featured the differences (and similarities) of boomers' retirement housing preferences and the homes builders are building. Part 2 explored the conflict between baby boomer desire to retire in suburbia vs. reality.
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Published on October 12, 2009
Comments 54
Category: Retirement Real Estate
It's been a rough couple of days in the retirement real estate market. Fortunately, not all the news was bad, depending on your perspective. Here are few news stories crossing our desk:
- Prices are falling in many active adult communities, which is stimulating sales to at least some degree. According to a report in the Press-Enterprise, Hanley Wood Market Intelligence, a real estate research firm, prices in Del Webb's Solera Diamond Valley recently ranged from $170,000 to $291,000. Back in January 2008, similar houses were priced from $246,000 to well over $300,000.
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Published on October 12, 2009
Comments 0
Category: Baby Boomer Retirement Issues
Remember the great fear of a few years ago: baby boomers will be retiring in droves, creating a severe shortage of skilled workers and driving up costs for employers. Whew – there’s one less thing to worry about. A recent survey on the impact on retirement of the recession…
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Published on October 6, 2009
Comments 0
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
The Sunshine State just had its first population loss since 1946, according to research from the University of Florida. The State lost 58,000 residents in the year ending March, 2009, the first such loss since military personnel left the State when WWII ended.
This decline is sobering to Florida, a state used to nothing but unending growth. The experts are quick to provide a multitude of reasons for this change, leading the casual observer to think Florida might have lost its (retirement) mojo. The current recession and attendant housing crisis is the most important reason for the decline. Construction is hugely important in this state, yet
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Published on October 6, 2009
Comments 6
Category: Baby Boomer Retirement Issues
Note: This article is a continuation of our earlier article, "55+ Home Buyers and Builders Not Exactly in Synch". See Part 3, a Boomer's Retirement Self-Assessment.
Baby boomers' expressed desires about where they want to retire are pretty clear: we want to continue living where we do now - in suburbia*. That sounds fine as long as we are in our 60's and 70's. But think about what will happen when we get into our 80's and 90's. Studies find most people outlive their ability to drive by 6 to 10 years. In the suburbs if we can't drive, we will be in very big trouble. Also, at that age moving and starting over with friends and neighbors is not that easy. It sounds harsh, but the reality is that many of us will become trapped in our homes with no easy exit.
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Published on September 27, 2009
Comments 3
