Category: Retirement Real Estate
September 28, 2016 -- This website absolutely gets so many great article ideas from our Members and visitors. A perfect illustration was the suggestion which we had from 2 different members, huntley61 and janeAnn, to explore the idea of retiring in a pocket community. Thanks to all!
What is a Pocket Neighborhood?
The most common characteristic of a pocket neighborhood is a small group of homes and other type residences sharing a common, open space area. That space might be for gardens, pedestrian walkways, shared yards, or something else. The idea is to promote a close knit sense of community and neighborliness with an increased level of contact. Instead of a sterile parking lot as a common area, these usable public spaces belong to everyone who lives in that neighborhood. While the name and the communities are new, the idea is old and traditional - villages and city neighborhoods in Europe and New England (think homes clustered along the green) have had the same thing going for centuries. Pocket neighborhoods exist in a variety of environments - rural, in cities, or even the suburbs. Another aspect of pocket neighborhoods is that they are small scale - maybe 12 homes max (although many pocket neighborhoods might be linked together by walkways). Homes are usually smaller and closer together than in existing towns and suburbs. The movement is in some ways an extension of residential cluster housing, where a group of homes might be built on fairly large piece of property, but the homes are close together to create large common spaces.
Are pocket neighborhoods good for retirement and those 55+?
While we are aware of only a few pocket neighborhoods built expressly for those 55+, many baby boomers are interested enough in the idea to move into one. One attraction is the idea of living next to and relating to people of all ages, not just older people. In these shared settings neighbors get to know one another; children learn to
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Published on September 27, 2016
Comments 20
Category: Adventurous retirement
September 23, 2016 — By Betty Fitterman
Note: This is Part 2 of a 6 Part series that Betty Fitterman was kind enough to contribute way back at Topretirements’ beginning. Here is a link to Part 1.
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As we approached retirement, we realized that the failing economy had done a real job on both our savings and our businesses. Up until now, money had not been
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Published on September 26, 2016
Comments 1
Category: Adventurous retirement
September 23, 2016 -- By Betty Fitterman
Note: This is a 6 part series that Betty Fitterman was kind enough to contribute way back at Topretirements' beginning. To see the other 5 parts see the links at the bottom of this article.
While millions of baby boomers are starting to check out active adult communities, college towns, and cities as their retirement destination, a sub-set of young-at-heart retirees has a much more adventurous approach. These folks have adopted a mobile lifestyle, and for them, the entire continent is their community.
We’re talking about the permanent and semi-permanent RVers, many of whom have sold everything – homes, condos, cars, furniture and all – to live as turtles, as one friend described it, carrying their homes on their backs for as long as they enjoy it.
It’s not an easy decision, especially when it comes to
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Published on September 22, 2016
Comments 47
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
September 20, 2016 -- So maybe you have been thinking about retiring in The Palmetto State - but wondering where are the best places to retire in South Carolina. Here is our 10 Best Places list, formed from 10 years of experience in evaluating places to retire across the world.
As always, it is important to recognize that this is our list with our criteria - your ideal list of SC places to retire might not be the same. Here are our criteria:
- High "Popularity" ranking on our annual "100 Most Popular Places to Retire" list
- Be an interesting place to live in retirement - is it pretty, have an interesting history, or have a vital downtown?
- Things to do there - are there a lot of activities, restaurants, or cultural resources?
- How about places to live - are there different neighborhoods or communities suitable for a retirement lifestyle?
Should you retire in South Carolina
SC is increasingly a popular choice for retirement, and for many good reasons:
- Mild winter climate
- Varied places to live - from beautiful beaches to lakes to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Charming little towns and some interesting mid-sized cities
- Lower cost of living and taxes. South Carolina is a very tax-friendly state with the 9th lowest tax burden in 2011 according to the Tax Foundation. Social Security is not taxable, and people over 65 enjoy favorable tax status (see our Guide to Retiring in South Carolina).
Our Top 10
Here is our list. All of them made our annual Top 100 list - 6 of them were in the top half (ranking on that list shown in parentheses). Most of these towns have at least 10 active adult or 55+ communities to choose from. To see all of them check out our SC 55+ and Active Adult Community Guide.
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Published on September 19, 2016
Comments 46
Category: Travel
September 13, 2016 -- Maybe the most fun thing about being retired is the chance to do all the things you have been postponing for so long. Now that your boss has to get along without you, the kids are out of the house (we hope!), and (maybe) you have to money to do something with all your free time, you have the green light for new experiences.
One of the suggestions we've heard is to give more emphasis to activities and experiences in retirement. To that end we would like to develop a "Best of" article for all kinds of categories, but we need your help to do it. Could you please pick of a couple of your "Best of" experiences in retirement and a quick description in the Comments section below. We promise to take what we get and try to arrange it in a readable fashion for a future article. Your item doesn't have to be a luxury extravaganza, in fact simple
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Published on September 13, 2016
Comments 12
Category: Retirement Planning
September 12, 2106 -- We are very grateful to the many folks who agreed to tell us their retirement planning stories, along with suggestions for improving Topretirements and ideas for articles. Here in Part 3 are six more interesting and varied adventures! See "For Further Reading at Bottom" for links to Parts 1 and 2, which generated lots and lots of Member Comments.
Note: We edited down some of the comments to fit here but have tried not to change the sense of the input we received.
From Christina - Happy in Sun City Texas
Q: Where did you live before you retired, and how old were you when retired?
A: We lived in Southern California for 32 years. I was 54 and my husband was 63 when we became empty nesters. That's when we sold our house and moved to
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Published on September 12, 2016
Comments 2
Category: Retirement Planning
Sept 3, 2016 -- Today's installment is Part 2 our series with 3 more Topretirements Members and their retirement planning stories. It is interesting how everyone has a different approach, experiences, goals, and results. You can find links to Part 1 and Part in the "Further Reading" section at end of article.
1. Vic Chooses Port Charlotte Based on Affordable Lifestyle
Vic: Although we have not yet moved to our retirement destination, Topretirements has played a key role in our strategy and planning. It is almost 5 years ago that a general Internet search resulted in subscribing to your email news feed. At that time, retirement was years away, but the concept of winding down our careers and taking the next step was becoming a frequent topic of conversation. This stage began not long after the adjustment to being “empty nesters” was firmly established. We found ourselves asking, “Who are we” or perhaps, “Who WERE we” and can we be those people again?
Our decision to purchase our eventual home four years before
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Published on September 2, 2016
Comments 66
Category: Estate Planning
August 31, 2016 -- Consider this unpleasant scenario: You go to bed tonight and don't wake up. Instead, you go on to your greater reward, leaving a saddened spouse, family, and friends. They, on the other hand, are about to find out how well you prepared for this event. While not fun to think about, this is not an "if" it happens situation, it is only "when".
Not so long ago your heirs would face many unpleasant chores as a result of your untimely death, but at least the tasks were relatively straightforward. Assets could generally be traced by looking in file folders, safe deposit boxes, and various spots around the house. Statements would eventually come in the mail, alerting your survivors to the existence of various accounts. Now in the digital age, your executor or surviving spouse face the same tasks, only they tend to be much more difficult. That is mainly because so many of your assets and accounts only exist online. How will they find out what accounts
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Published on August 30, 2016
Comments 13
Category: Retirement Planning
August 30, 2016 -- One of our longstanding Members, Robert M, suggested that we interview our early subscribers who are still members and see how Topretirements and its community have helped them over the years. This is his and his wife Jan's retirement planning story - which is still going on. Even though they have been with Topretirements almost 10 years, they are still 5 years away from pulling the trigger. We admire their planning spirit! We hope that their experience will prove useful to all of our members in suggesting ways to improve their retirement planning. Thanks Robert and Jan, it has been great to read how real people manage the retirement process (and thank you for your many kind comments)! Several other folks who responded to our interview request will be publishing their retirement stories in the near future.
Take it away Robert. We have tried to provide links to some of the features mentioned for your convenience.
Q: When and how did you discover Topretirements?
A: Looking at my files where I printed stuff off it looks like I found your site in late 2007/early 2008. I found it through looking for information on retirement and various states. Back then we decided we need to
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Published on August 29, 2016
Comments 4
Category: Work and Volunteering
August 23, 2016 -- One of the often overlooked challenges of retirement is how you will stay busy and engaged over time. You might think that you'll be happy just by kicking back and relaxing, but that is not generally how humans are built. In that regard we are a lot like working dogs, happiest when we have a job or activity that keeps our minds and bodies busy.
Volunteering is an obvious and rewarding way to keep a focus in retirement. There are so many possibilities: mentoring children, helping a small business on a project, assisting at the library or hospital, trading work for free space at a national park, helping a local volunteer group or community association, or
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Published on August 22, 2016
Comments 17
