Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
April 11, 2016 -- We love hearing stories from real people about their adventures in finding the perfect place to retire. So we were very fortunate recently to get an in depth interview from 2 old friends, Sandy and Ann, who shared their retirement search adventures. We hope you will find it interesting and instructive. (Don't miss the Further Reading section at the end - over the years we have interviewed a whole lot of people about their retirement search experiences - and the links to those stories are all there!)
Prior to retirement the pair lived in a comfortable New York suburb, from which they commuted to successful careers in the Big Apple. Their enviable lifestyle included frequent ski trips to Vermont in winter and a busy social life at a country club the rest of the year. But when it came time for retirement, both were interested in a change of scenery. They agreed on two main motivations: to have easier access to outdoor recreation opportunities like hiking, biking, and skiing; and to escape New York's expensive cost of living and real estate taxes.
Looking down south
Like so many others, they were faced with a big
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Published on April 11, 2016
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
April 6, 2016 -- Are any of the Best States to Retire" lists you see so frequently worth the few minutes it takes you to read them? That is a pretty good question, since A: there are so many to read, and B: they seem to contradict themselves more than they agree. This article will illustrate the many ways that 2 recent lists differ from one another, along with the few ways they coincide. We will also see how these lists best and worst selections compare with the last 2 editions of Topretirements "Best (and Worst) States" lists. All of which has us shaking our heads at the general lack of agreement!
Every time we publish one of these types of lists we can count on a few readers taking a shot at why we picked this or that place, or why we didn't include yet another. That is understandable, as even when objective criteria are used to make the
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Published on April 5, 2016
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Category: Adventurous retirement
Editor’s Note: This announcement of her 7th Key West food critic mystery is from Lucy Burdette, aka Mrs. Topretirements.com April 5, 2016 — Killer Takeout by Lucy Burdette takes place during Fantasy Fest, a zany ten-day festival beginning with the unofficial zombie bike ride, and ending with an enormous,…
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Published on April 5, 2016
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Category: Uncategorized
April 2, 2016 — We were recently quite flattered to be asked to be featured in a podcast for RetirementJourneys.com. Ted Carr, its President, asked some very helpful questions. It was a good challenge to re-think many of our positions on and reasons for choosing a place to…
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Published on April 1, 2016
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
March 29, 2016 — Due to popular requests we periodically update our extensive series of “Dueling Retirement States”. The latest to be updated is the comparison of retirement in Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Delaware. The previous version of this comparison was from 2010. Since then most trends and…
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Published on March 29, 2016
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
March 26, 2016 — If you asked most people to name the fastest growing Metro in the U.S., we think many would not be able to come up with the right one. The answer is a most surprising one – The Villages, the sprawling community of 119,000 in Central…
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Published on March 25, 2016
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Category: Singles and Retirement
March 23, 2016 -- Although the quest for a suitable partner or companion is an age old quest, there are some new twists - the tools for finding that person. A study from the Pew Research Center found that the share of 55- to 64-year-olds who use online dating has doubled in just the past few years, from 6% in 2013 to 12% in 2015). And interestingly enough, it is us baby boomers, along with the youngest adults, who are leading the charge into online dating on sites like Match.com. About 15% of the total U.S. population reports having used used online dating. The youngest adults are more likely to have used mobile apps for dating or meeting people. Some dating sites such as go binder, have achieved a certain level of notoriety, such as Tinder and Ashley Madison.
As we boomers age there is more need for a dating solution. Gray divorce is increasing, spouses unfortunately die, and many people never got married in the first place. Now as online dating becomes more acceptable and familiar, many are turning to it. About 41% of all American adults say
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Published on March 22, 2016
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Category: Adventurous retirement
March 20, 2016 -- Ah the mountains. Snow-capped peaks; endless trails for biking, skiing, and hiking; and streams filled with cutthroat trout. For a small (only about 8% of our members in a recent survey) but very active group of boomers this is the dream, a far different retirement than one on a sunny beach or tranquil small town. One thing is certain, the mountains attract a very active and generally quite fit group of retirees. In this article we will discuss our experiences with a mountain retirement in 2 areas of 2 states - Colorado (Eagle /Vail), and Utah (Park City/Salt Lake City). Both areas have their attractions for retirees, as well a few drawbacks. We are sure there are plenty of other good retirement areas in the mountains elsewhere, and hope that our Members will help fill in more details about those places.
Colorado - A Rocky Mountain High
Recently Topretirements visited friends in the Eagle/Vail area of Colorado, which is located a few hours drive west of Denver. We were very impressed with this
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Published on March 19, 2016
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Category: Travel
March 16, 2016 -- We don't know what your biggest regrets in life are, but one of the top ones for many boomers is that they didn't travel enough. A British Airways survey of 2,000 U.S. baby boomers (aged 55 and over) shows that a fifth (20 percent) of baby boomers said not traveling enough is one of their biggest regrets when thinking back over their life so far. Women are slightly more likely to regret not traveling than men.
All work and no play: More than a fifth (22 percent) of baby boomers said a reason they haven’t traveled overseas more over the years is due to work commitments. And in thinking back over their life so far, 17 percent of male baby boomers said working too much is one of their biggest regrets,
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Published on March 15, 2016
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Category: Retirement Real Estate
March 14, 2016 -- Every year about this time a significant segment of the snowbird population, the portion that rents instead of owns their own place, share a common worry. The concern boils down to this simple question - where on earth are we going to stay next winter? In this article we will attempt to explain the many issues that come into play when boomers go about seeking a snowbird rental, and how those factors often drive them to start thinking about owning a place vs. continuing to rent.
The rental worries
Here are some of the major problems that repeat snowbird renters can face - assuming they were lucky enough to find a rental
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Published on March 13, 2016
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