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Try It NOWCategory: Financial and taxes in retirement
October 22, 2018 — Medicare costs for 2019 have been announced, and fortunately, the increases are small. The standard Part B premium amount is $135.50 (or higher depending on your income), vs. $134 in 2018. Part B deductible and coinsurance will be $185 per year, vs. $183. The Part A…
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Category: Retirement Real Estate
October 16, 2018 -- Here is a conundrum facing many retiring baby boomers, particularly those from the Northeast. You dream of escaping cold winters and snow, and replacing those annoyances with warm winters, sandy beaches, and being outside in shorts all year round. But, the Eastern and Gulf coasts of the U. S. come along with a big problem - hurricanes! This article will explore the issues associated with retiring to an area prone to hurricanes, a danger that recent history has shown to be a growing and very serious threat.
To tackle the issue we’ll break it up into three parts: what to
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
October 14, 2018 -- If you receive Social Security or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, the biggest increase in years is about to come your way. More than 67 million Americans will see an increase of 2.8 percent in 2019. The COLA was 2% in 2018 and .3% in 2016. The 2.8 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable in January 2019 (which means you will see the increase in your Feb deposit). If your monthly payment is currently $2500, that means a $70/month increase.
Earnings limits also increased
The maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax (taxable maximum)
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Category: Health and Wellness Issues
October 13, 2018 -- Medicare Open Enrollment runs from Oct. 15 - Dec. 7. If you are currently on Medicare, or didn't sign up when you were first eligible for it, now is the time to compare plans and make sure you have the coverage that's right for you in 2019.
Sure you are busy and have many things to think about. But spending a little time and effort every year to make sure you are in the right plan Medicare plan is important. For example, maybe you currently have Medicare Part B along with a supplemental plan. Flash forward to the present. Your health needs might have changed since then, maybe enough so that you aren’t in the right plan anymore. Maybe Medicare Advantage (Part C) makes more sense now because it probably covers additional benefits such as vision, dental,
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
October 9, 2018 -- This is our 2018 list of the 20 most popular places to retire in the Northeast, the fourth in this year's "Best Places" series. In case you missed them, here are the links to the first three: "The Top 20 Places to Retire in the Southwest", 20 Most Popular Places to Retire in the West (California to Colorado and points north), and the Southeast's very popular top 20.
Resorts and college towns
We weren't too surprised Pittsburgh ended up #1 on this list, Since the Steel City is frequently named as a great place to retire because of its relatively low costs and livability. But we
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Category: Downsizing
By Barbara Ross and Bill Carito
October , 2018 --
I recently calculated that my husband and I, either solo or with other family members, have emptied eight houses in the last ten years. Like many people our age, this has included helping elderly parents downsize from big old homes, emptying their second homes, and finally, emptying their downsized homes when they were gone.
The spring/summer of 2017 was the trifecta. We cleaned out my mother-in-law’s chock-a-block full apartment following her death, helped our son and his family move from Connecticut to Virginia, and moved ourselves from Somerville, Massachusetts to our dream retirement home in Portland, Maine.
One task remained
We bought my mother-in-law’s big, beautiful Victorian sea captain’s house on the harbor in Boothbay Harbor, Maine from her in 2004 in a transaction so complex, I took to calling it “Momitrage.” As a part of the whole deal, she moved into a lovely
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Category: Family and Retirement
October 2, 2018 -- Your Editor's children gave him a very thoughtful gift for Fathers Day this year - DNA testing from Ancestry.com. This article will explore why genetic testing might be useful, its pros and cons, a list of the various providers of these services, and some comments from a Facebook post on the topic. We also hope that all of you with experience on the subject will chip in on the Comments section, so we can all learn from one another.
Like most every family, mine is interested in and proud of our ethnic heritage. We know from our parents that we are largely Scotch-Irish, have quite a bit of German/Sudetenland, along with a dash of Native American blood. Our relatives from that line were part of the infamous Trail of Tears into Oklahoma. We looked forward to confirmation of all of that heritage.
The test
Common DNA tests cost about $99, but there are many different levels of plans, along with occasional deals. To give the company your genetic makeup you usually put a tiny amount of your saliva into a small vial, or swab your cheek. Then you
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
September 26, 2018 -- A few years ago we published an article about small town retirement that a lot of people seemed to really like: "Five Big Reasons to Choose a Small Town Retirement". Here is the counterpoint; some great reasons why that might not be the best idea.
Moving to a small town for retirement is a frequent dream for many baby boomers. Friendly neighbors, walking to downtown for coffee, and no traffic are just some of the attractions for people fed up with suburban sprawl and city hassles. Unfortunately, sometimes the dream does not work out that well. Or, people just realize that small town living isn't for them.
Decorah, Iowa - a town many Member say is a great small town for retrirement
Some of the problems we have seen
Access to medical care. The #1 issue we hear about is people who are disappointed with the health available in the small town they move to. There might not be many doctors, few specialists, and only a tiny hospital offering limited care. This really becomes a problem if you develop a condition that requires a specialist or a big hospital. A two or three hour drive to regular appointments, or in an emergency, will be a big problem for you. Small towns also greatly reduce your choice of doctors. It is not so much of an issue with towns
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Category: Retirement Planning
September 25, 2018 — We love your Comments to the Topretirements.com Blog! Our Members consistently say they are one of the most valuable features of this site. BUT….one of our regular contributors made yet a great suggestion that might make this feature even better. He is frustrated with some Comments…
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
September 14, 2018 -- Thanks to one of our regular idea contributors, Jeff H, we have a not so hypothetical problem for you. If, as the Social Security Trustees warn, the retirement portion of Social Security exhausts its reserves in 2034 and is only able to fund 77% of promised benefits starting in that year, what will you do? A similar question could apply to Medicare, which is expected to run out of money even earlier, in just 8 years (2026). Medicare's case is harder to prepare for: if nothing is done, presumably benefits will be cut or reimbursements to doctors and hospitals reduced, driving even more health care providers out of Medicare.(Note: in our recent newsletter the headline said ‘cut 77%), which was an inadvertent error. The accurate statement is that benefits would be paid at 77%.)
In spite of a steady stream of warnings from Trustees and other experts, legislators have done nothing to address the coming problem. With soaring deficit projections expected
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