Category: Family and Retirement
Editor's note: The family we described in this article are not real, they are hypothetical. However the kinds of problems they experienced are real and painful. For a variety of reasons, more and more Americans are living in multi-generational households - 31% of those aged 25- to 29 in 2014 were living in households with parents and/or grandparents.
January 3, 2107 --June and Jim thought that their exquisitely laid retirement plan was solid. They had done so many things well - they had set up a regular savings plan, hired a good financial advisor, thought about how they would stay busy, and even made some scouting trips to potential retirement destinations. But due to circumstances they never imagined, June and Jim are worried that their retirement dream is probably finished - before it even started.
The problem wasn’t with the couple’s plan, it was their adult children. Margaret had been a great student and athlete in high school and even into college. But she lost focus somewhere along the line, and even though she graduated with a B.A. she couldn’t land a good job. So she moved back home, where she remains, not making enough to move out on her own, and her parents haven’t have the heart to ask her to pay rent. That was 5 years ago.
Justin also did well until he
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Published on January 3, 2017
Comments 66
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
January 2, 2017 -- Just as millions of baby boomers start to enjoy their Social Security retirement or disability checks comes a new worry. The problem arises for the folks who, for whatever reason, did not pay off all of their student loan debts. Many non-payers thought that after the initial wave of debt collection efforts subsided, they were off the hook. Wrong! The government has one last ace to play, and that is garnishment of your Social Security checks.
Last year the Feds reclaimed $171 million in unpaid student loans, and many of those paying it back were over 50 years of age - 114,000 of them in fact. According to a recent Wall Street Journal article the typical delinquent borrower sees their Social Security
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Published on January 1, 2017
Comments 10
Category: Retirement Real Estate
December 30, 2016 -- Real estate in the last 15 years has been like an rollercoaster - cozy ups, terrifying downs, and hairpin turns. But like a great 'coaster, the ride feels different depending on where you sit - those on the ends get the big thrills while middle riders enjoy a slightly smoother ride. That is the conclusion of The Wall St. Journal's recent analysis of the latest real estate prices from October's S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index and other sources.
After dropping 27% from 2006 to 2012, average home prices rose 5.6% on the last 12 months, a record high (although not when counting inflation). But that is the national average, regional variations tell a significantly different story.
The Wall St. Journal reported that data from Weiss Analytics, a housing-data firm, indicates that zip codes where the median
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Published on December 29, 2016
Comments 12
Category: General Retirement Issues
December 27, 2016 --- In many ways 2016 was one of the craziest years we can remember. Fortunately Topretirements' 10th year was interesting, but not full of upheaval. As an annual tradition we like to see which articles grabbed the attention of the Topretirements.com community during the year. As always, there are at least a few surprise articles that generate more readership and Comments than we expected. Here is our annual review of the best of Topretirements for 2016.
We Do Appreciate
This seems to be a great time to note our appreciation to the Topretirements community. So many of you read our articles, take the time to post Comments to Blog articles, suggest new topics to cover - thank you. Special thanks to our loyal advertisers who make this site possible. Many have been with us almost since our beginnings in 2007 - thank you for your support of this vibrant online community.
Overall
So far in 2016 Topretirements had over 1.8 million visitors
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Published on December 27, 2016
Comments 3
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
December 21, 2016 -- Almost everybody agrees Social Security needs some tweaking to keep this popular program running smoothly. After all the latest estimates are that, if no changes are made, starting in 2034 only 75% of promised benefits will be able to paid (Social Security Trustees Annual Report).
Politicians and economists have been talking about the need to fix Social Security for years, but up until now no one has done more than talk. Finally, at least one person in Congress, Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX), has proposed something. We don't agree with a lot of what is in his plan, but we salute him for at least proposing something. The Bipartisan Policy Center has also proposed solutions, some similar to Johnson's and some different. Soon to be President Trump said during the campaign
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Published on December 20, 2016
Comments 73
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
December 20, 2016 — Our friend and long-time member Dave E commented on one of our articles from 5 years ago today – the “Two Places Retirement” strategy. The idea of retiring to more than one place, which snowbirds are so fond of, is an interesting topic that many folks…
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Published on December 20, 2016
Comments 5
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
Updated September 29, 2020 (originally published Dec. 14, 2016) -- This is an update to our series on Affordable Places to Retire. You can find links to the rest of the series at the end of the article. You will also find the interesting 33 comments made to 10 great places to retire in the southwest that won't break your budget.
Many boomers are looking forward to the sunshine and dry air of America's Southwest for their place to retire. The challenge is to find an affordable town in such a huge and desirable region. We included 6 states in this look: Arizona, Oklahoma, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah. The 10 cities and towns we've included here will give you a place to start your retirement search for an affordable retirement.
10 Affordable Places to Retire in the Southwest - but prices have gone up since 2016
The big thing we concluded from this research is that real
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Published on December 14, 2016
Comments 37
Category: General Retirement Issues
December 12, 2016 -- Baby boomers have finally got to the age where senior centers actually are meant for us... oh perish the thought! Sadly it is true, the oldest of us baby boomers turned 70 this year and tens of millions are in our 60s.
Which brings us to one of favorite pet peeves. In our Connecticut town there was a proposal to build a new "Senior" Center. The old one was a mess and not big enough for the number of people that wanted to use it. We lobbied, unsuccessfully, to build a "Community", rather than a "Senior" Center. The Community Center would have had all the facilities and resources that aging boomers want and need. But in our view, freeing it from the "Senior" stigma would have boosted attendance and been a resource that the entire community could enjoy. Happily, a beautiful and
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Published on December 11, 2016
Comments 19
Category: Retirement Real Estate
Dec. 7, 2016 -- The ultimate dream for many a baby boomer is to buy a home on the edge of the sea. Brilliant sunrises, grandkids playing in the sand or swimming off the fishing dock, and fiery sunsets are all part of that dream. Unfortunately, the reality of rising seas is threatening that good life. A recent article in the NY Times, "Perils of Climate Change Swamp Coastal Real Estate", found that real estate prices in flood prone areas of the U.S. are either declining, or not rising as fast as in other parts of the country.
(Courtesy of Wikipedia)
It used to be that potential buyers of coastal property
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Published on December 6, 2016
Comments 28
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
December 5, 2016 — A few years back a reporter asked for our opinion about college town retirements. Her questions concerned the pros and cons, reasons why to choose one, top places to retire with colleges, etc. What we told her is that there are a lot of really good…
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Published on December 5, 2016
Comments 19
