Category: Health and Wellness Issues
February 24, 2018 -- Everybody knows swimming is good for you, but who would have thought it might actually help reduce falls. Swimming, according to research from the National Institutes of Health, can also improve cognitive ability, lower blood pressure and enhance hand-eye coordination. Beyond swimming, there are a lot of other things you can do to reduce falls too.
NextAvenue.com reported on A 2014 University of Western Sydney study of 1,667 Australian men age 70 and older showed that swimmers had “significantly lower risks of falling,”. The research showed that participants who swam had 33% fewer falling incidents than those in the group that included runners and golfers. Researchers also
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Published on February 23, 2018
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
March 17, 2018 -- The most frequent question we get asked at Topretirements is, "what is the best place (state or city) to retire". Interestingly, the negative of that query, what is the the worst place for retirement, sparks even more (morbid) curiosity. Seems like our Members want to know where to avoid almost as much as they would like to know the best places to retire.
This article presents our 4th list of the worst states for retirement, which we have been publishing since 2008. But before we get to that list we have one important thing to stress - everyone's retirement situation is different. A one-size-fits-all approach will not provide the right answer for you. Your geographic and climate preferences, the kind of activities you enjoy, where your friends and family live - all of
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Published on February 17, 2018
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Category: Active adult communities
February 14, 2018 — The front edge of baby boomers turns 72 years old this year. By now many are well into retirement. Experts are curious - will this revolutionary generation stick to the patterns of their parents in retirement, or will they break new ground, just like they did in music, the arts, and lifestyles? We think the answer will be yes - to both questions.
Most things won’t change. Millions will move to 55+ and active adult communities in their 60s and 70s, searching for non-stop activities and a social setting where making friends fast is easy. The vast majority of boomers will be like their parents in that they won’t move anywhere - they will either stay where they live now as long as they
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Published on February 13, 2018
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
February 3, 2018 -- A lot of people would like to know which state is the best for retirement. There are many ways to answer that question, and in fact over the years we have tried several. Here are a few of the approaches we have used in the past (you can find links to each at bottom of page):
- Most popular state. The State Retirement guides at Topretirements that were read the most by our visitors and Members.
- Best state by factor. Taxes on retirees, low property taxes, cost of living, climate, variety of interesting places to live
- Lowest tax states. A big factor for many people
- Comparison of competitive "Best States" lists. We compared lists from Bankrate and Wallethub against each other and to where actual retirees moved (there was very little agreement!).
At the end of the day identifying the best state for retirement is a
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Published on February 2, 2018
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Category: Family and Retirement
January 30, 2018 -- When you are planning your retirement there is one factor you might have overlooked - how your pet(s) fits into your plans. Retirement often means big changes in lifestyles that can affect our furry friends. For example many of us might want to move to an active community, where there might be restrictions on the breed, size, and number of pets we can own. We might be traveling more, either on long delayed bucket list trips or visiting grandchildren, and that means more periods when you need to find someone to care for Flossie.
According to the American Veterinary Medical Association 36% of American households own a dog and 30% have a cat. Surprisingly, cats outnumber dogs - 86 million to 76 million - because people tend to own more cats per household. Pet owning households are very passionate about their pets, usually viewing them as members of the family. This comment
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Published on January 29, 2018
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Category: Baby Boomer Retirement Issues
January 26 — As a baby boomer we confess to a certain pride in belonging to the largest single age demographic group in world history. A tidal wave that crashed on the shore in 1946, we overflowed the hospitals we were born in. That continued through our childhood as new…
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Published on January 26, 2018
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Category: Surveys
January 24, 2018 -- The Topretirements.com survey from last week asked 11 questions about your plans or experiences concerning work after retirement. Over 400 members gave back to this community by taking the time to respond (thank you on behalf of everyone who will profit from your investment!). This article will summarize the overall results along with the data for each question. And, since so many people shared their opinions, we have provided you with summary documents where you can read all of the practical ideas, experiences,
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Published on January 24, 2018
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
Note: Coincidence or not, one of Topretirements' Best Places to Retire lists was picked up as a feature on January 26 by both TheStreet.com and MSN.com ("Best U.S. Cities to Retire in"). We are definitely honored!
January 20, 2018 -- How many "best places to retire" lists have you come across this month? We know we've seen plenty, in fact our son even forwards them to us. The big question about the never ending barrage of lists is, are they worth reading? Here we will explore the somewhat wild and crazy of best places lists, a topic we hope you will find interesting.
#1 - There is no limit to how specialized these lists can get
Thanks to a Denver Post article we learned a whole lot of new ways to tackle the "best places" list game. Consider some of these candidates
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Published on January 19, 2018
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Category: Checklists
Updated June, 2023 - Many important things in life rely on a three sided approach. Christianity has as the Holy Trinity the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. A pyramid relies on 3 faces for stability. Less seriously, our brother likes to say that a good gumbo relies on the holy trinity of vegetables: green peppers, celery, and onions (we would add okra). We think there is a good case to be made that a good retirement relies on three key supports as well.
3 Pillars of Retirement
1. Health. Far too many people yearn for and plan for a great retirement, only to have those hopes shattered by a serious change in their health. Sometimes that happens before they retire, other times it happens not along after their working days end. Instead of enjoying golf, tennis, hiking, fishing, or whatever - you find yourself living a sedentary lifestyle, often with crushing medical expenses and painful treatments. Having a serious health change can also affect many other aspects of life too, such as where you live, and how you plan to stay busy in retirement.
The problem is that no one ever thinks bad medical news will happen to them. But too many times, one day
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Published on January 16, 2018
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Category: Health and Wellness Issues
January 14, 2018 — We will be writing an article for Topretirements that touches on the importance of health in retirement. Would love to hear from anyone who has had a change in their health that affected their retirement plans. You can reply below as a Comment, on our…
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Published on January 14, 2018
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