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Try It NOWCategory: Retirement Planning
August 14, 2017 — Whenever baby boomers get together there is always one guaranteed topic of conversation – what are your retirement plans? Here is your chance to share your plans (and actions!) and compare them with what others in the Topretirements.com community are thinking about. Our latest survey is…
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
August 8, 2017 -- Would this checklist for a great place to retire work for you?
- All public buildings have world class modern architecture - Triple check!
- Plenty of parks and open spaces - double check!
- Community-minded town with extremely active library, senior center, recreation - triple check!
- Public art is all around - check!
- Home prices must be below national median - check!
- Walkable, interesting downtown - check!
We are talking about the fascinating town of Columbus, Indiana - just south of Indianapolis with a population of 45,000. On our recent two day visit your Topretirments editor was blown away by what a great place to live and retire this is. Yet when we mention it to people of no little sophistication, they say, Columbus....Indiana .... never heard of it. This is your opportunity to learn more.
It all started
Columbus is known for being the home of Cummins, Inc., the Fortune 500 corporation started in 1919 that designs, manufactures, and
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Category: Active adult communities
August 2, 2017 -- Last week we reported that for the first time ever, 2 towns in the Western part of the U.S. came out at the top of our "100 Most Popular Places to Retire List for 2017". We found that to be pretty big news, particularly since: a) more people live in the Eastern part of the U.S. (58% in 2011), and b) we assume that more folks in the East consider migrating in retirement because their winter weather is worse. 2017's winners could be a one year anomaly, or it is possible it is part of a long term trend - we are not sure.
That question brings up another aspect of the East vs. West retirement issue. We have long had an assumption, not supported by any data, that the the two parts of the country have quite different types of active adult and 55+ communities. This article will explore that question. But beyond our speculations on the topic, we are really hoping for input from our Members who have spent time visiting or researching active communities in different
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Category: Retirement Planning
July 31, 2017 -- Just like the childless doctor that gives parenting advice, almost every "expert" has a few things to learn once they actually experience what they have been advising on. Retirement experts are no different. We recently read a great article by Paul Brown, who co-authored several books about retirement in his 30's and 40's. Now that he has actually experienced retirement for a while, he has had some realizations. In general Paul believes he gave good advice to his readers. But he knows now he should done two things differently:
1. Been more empathetic. Actual life is more complicated than theoretical.
2. Given more concrete examples.
Later on in this article we will give a quick rundown of the 3 examples he wrote about in this NY Times article, "Things I Should Have Said About Retirement Planning". But first, here are
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
July 27, 2017 – For the first time since Topretirements began running our annual list of America's 100 most popular places to retire we have a winner from the west. In fact, we have two. Green Valley, Arizona took over the top spot from last year's winner, Sarasota, Florida. Hitting #2 on our list is another town from Arizona, the former cowboy town of Prescott, north of Phoenix.
Green Valley is a sprawling area south of Tucson near the border with Mexico. It covers a vast area with all kinds of communities and developments - in fact it has 59 different home owner associations. Retirees like its relatively low cost of living, warm winter climate, the nearby Santa Rita Mountains, and the extensive non-profit Green Valley recreation complex. Mountains near Green Valley
In gaining the #1 spot on our list, Green Valley was viewed over 12,000 times
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
July 17 — In this article we will highlight our experiences and impressions from a recent trip to the Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater area. We hope you find it useful.
All 3 cities on gigantic Tampa Bay are located on Florida’s West Coast, about half way down from FL's northern border. For comparison, Orlando is located inland to the northeast, while Melbourne is parallel on the East coast. There are also a number of smaller towns in the area, a few of which we will talk about here. The area has a warm Florida climate influenced by its proximity to the Gulf, although it is not quite as warm in winter as towns further south like Naples or Miami. The area is densely populated. Traffic, particularly in the winter season and summer, can be quite intense.
Boats anchored in the Vinoy yacht basin marina, St.Pete.
St. Petersburg has, in our opinion, the best opportunities for retirement in this group. There is a compact urban center that is attractive and walkable. All
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
July 11, 2017 -- In this installment of our "Dueling Retirement States" we compare and analyze retirement in the states that we will call the mid-South: Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alabama. See Further Reading at bottom for links to the other regional comparisons in our series, such as The Carolinas, Gulf States, and Florida vs. Arizona.
These states can provide many different retirement lifestyles. They have mountains, lakes, cities, and small towns. Beyond that, they offer some of the most inexpensive living situations available in the U.S. Your retirement dollar can definitely go farther here, especially with their generally tax-friendly reputations. Winters in these states are much milder than in the most of the rest of the country, with a climate that is amenable to an active retirement year round. They are also generally uncrowded and less congested than many other retirement locations.
In this article we will compare and contrast these four southern states:
Alabama,
Georgia
Kentucky,
Tennessee
(links go to our mini-retirement guides to each state). Population and income data is from American Fact Finder-U.S. Census Bureau.
A Few Facts
Georgia is the largest state by population and also the youngest and most affluent. In 2015 there were an estimated 4.9 million people in Alabama, 10.3 million in Georgia, 4.4 million in Kentucky, and 6.6 million in Tennessee.
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Category: Health and Wellness Issues
Bulletin - June 28. In light of a lack of support from their own party, House Republican leaders have decided to put off a vote on this bill until after July 4. According to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll, only 17 percent of those surveyed say they approve of the Senate's health care plan, the Better Care Reconciliation Act. Fifty-five percent say they disapprove.
June 26, 2017 -- AARP, The giant association of retired people, has finally seen the Senate's new health care bill. And they don't like anything about it. They and a host of other organizations have sent a fiery letter to Sen. Mitch McConnell - there appear to be about 100 organizations who signed this letter.
Whatever your politics, we feel that it is important that you understand the issues in this bill, which has so many ramifications for people of retirement age. Pro or con, it is very important that you let your senators know how you feel.
Here are some of the concerns expressed by the AARP on their website: ("Senate Unveils Health Care Bill - and It's Bad!")
- “This new Senate bill was crafted in secrecy behind closed doors without a
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
June 26, 2017 -- This is Part 2 of our "Social Security 2017 Update". Here we will cover the changes to two popular SS claiming strategies that went into effect last year, and what you might do in response.
In Part 1 we explained how the Full Retirement Age (FRA) is gradually increasing for those born in 1955, eventually reaching age 67 for those born in 1960 or later. We also provided some strategies on how to make up for this delay and the slightly smaller benefits that come with it. Here is the link to Part 1, "What You Need to Know About Social Security in 2017".
2 big changes to SS in 2016
Two Social Security claiming strategies went into effect on April 30, 2016 that changed
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Category: Singles and Retirement
June 22, 2017 -- You are retired now and all set to do that traveling you dreamed about. Europe, Patagonia, Japan, the Caribbean - there are some any exciting places in the US and the world to visit. But there is one problem, you don't have a traveling companion, and you are worried about doing it by yourself. Sometimes you might be in a relationship, but your partner either doesn't like to travel or cannot handle it physically. We would love to hear from our Members who have figured out answers to this challenge. But rather than not traveling because you don't have a companion, here are three suggestions for how to do it:
In Antarctica
1. Travel with a group such as Roads Scholars (formerly Elderhostel). They have trips everywhere, and many of their customers are traveling solo. You might pay extra if you are not willing to have a roommate, but you will certainly meet people on your
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