Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
Note on Nov. 12: Final Medicare costs have been announced, which ended up slightly different than the preliminary predictions discussed in this article. See Final Medicare Part Premiums and Deductibles article. See also related article on how current Congressional bill ends the popular Social Security "File and Suspend" strategy for most people not already using this strategy.
October 28, 2015 - It hasn't happened many times, but it is coming in 2016: there will be no Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for those receiving Social Security. That is due to the fact that the cost of living in the U.S. went down, "fueled" by falling energy and commodity prices. This is only the 3rd time in history there has been no COLA. The COLA in 2015 was 1.7%.
This news will undoubtedly disappoint many folks who look forward to a small increase in their monthly Social Security deposit, something they might view as a pay raise every year, although it is really only an adjustment to keep on pace with inflation (which seems to be in check, at least for the present).
Most will dodge a Medicare increase
Meanwhile in the Medicare world, most people will escape a Medicare bullet. Had there been
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Published on October 27, 2015
Comments 10
Category: Health and Wellness Issues
November 12 Update: Final Medicare Part B Premiums and Deductibles Announced
October 27, 2015 -- This is the open enrollment period for both Medicare and Obamacare. If you are retired and need health care before age 65, or you are 65 or over and eligible for Medicare, you need to pay attention, as these are, with some exceptions, the only times you can enroll or change your coverage. And there are many good reasons why you might want to change it.
Two different enrollment periods
Which open enrollment period you need to worry about depends on whether you are talking about Medicare or the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
Medicare enrollment started on October 15 and runs through December 7. If you are 65 or over you need to enroll/make your changes by then or wait until next year (with some exceptions). The changes you make go into effect on Jan. 1, 2016.
Affordable Care Act enrollment for those not eligible for Medicare goes from November 1 to December 15 (much less time than last year). Changes go into effect Jan. 1, 2016.
What is an Open Enrollment Period
An open enrollment period is the time during which you can sign up for coverage for the upcoming year if you don't have it now. You can also change
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Published on October 26, 2015
Comments 74
Category: Family and Retirement
October 21, 2105 -- Many of us baby boomers are talking a lot about downsizing, in fact some of our most popular and commented upon articles are on that topic (see further reading below). But there is one aspect of downsizing that doesn't get mentioned as often - your dog.
Americans love their pets, especially their dogs. But as we enter retirement it is worth some time thinking about whether or not you want to have a dog when your current one goes on to Fido heaven, and if you do, what type and particularly, size. We know that many people, including your editor's wife, could not face living without a
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Published on October 21, 2015
Comments 20
Category: Retirement Planning
October 21, 2015 -- Maybe the better question is, "Do you have a retirement plan". According to Richard Russo in a recent MarketWatch Retirement Weekly article, having a plan greatly increases your chances of success. So if you don't have one, now is a mighty good time to start. This article will explain what sorts of things should be in your plan, and how you can use it to help you achieve a successful retirement.
Russo, a senior financial adviser with Clarity Financial in Houston and author for Random Thoughts of a Money Muse, cautions that you shouldn't get uptight about your plan if it isn't working out exactly as you had thought. He says they are "extraordinarily imperfect... 20% science and 80% forecast (or art)". He believes you should start your plan 5 to 10 years in advance of when you think you might retire. If you do, you can greatly
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Published on October 20, 2015
Comments 27
Category: Active adult communities
October 3, 2015 -- The think we love the most about the 2015 list of the most popular active communities at Topretirements is that there are so many newcomers - 36 communities are new to it this year! It is great that there are so many new faces - even more interesting places for our Members to explore. Another huge piece of news from the 2015 results is that our long-time, undefeated, #1 community, The Villages, was narrowly edged out of first place by another perennial top 10 finisher, Fearrington Village near Chapel Hill, NC. The 2 communities could not be more different - in scale, amenities, and feel - it's refreshing to see such variation in the choices available to retiring baby boomers.
Speaking of diversity
The 2015 list has some unusual and exotic choices for retirement
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Published on October 3, 2015
Comments 22
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
September 29, 2015 -- Earlier this month we ran an article about starting your own business in retirement. This will continue the series, but this time we will concentrate on other ways to make extra money once you retire. With so many baby boomers concerned about their retirement finances (only 46% of members in our recent survey say that their expected retirement income will allow them to continue their pre-retirement lifestyles), we expect it is a topic many of you will be interested in.
There are generally 2 ways to put the extra money in your pocket that affords a worry-free retirement. You can either work for someone else, or you can be your own boss. Each of them has their particular advantages and disadvantages. Let's look at both.
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Published on September 28, 2015
Comments 8
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
September 21, 2015 -- We thought this topic would be easy. Do some basic research, then come up with a list of the worst states for taxes on retirement. But after looking at the research we had to say - not so fast! There are so many considerations depending on your individual circumstances that any cut and dried, one size fits all approach is not going to be useful. All of these factors, for example, will have a major effect on your tax bill from one state to another: your income, the value of your home, the type of retirement income you get (and where it comes from), and whether you file singly or jointly. Yet we will try to come up with such a list, thinking of a prototypical couple that might, or might not, be similar to your situation. In this case we are focusing on worst states for retirement income taxes, and ignoring other taxes like those on property.
Back in 2011 we ran a similar exercise. In that one we had a hypothetical retirement couple (both over 65) who derives their income from a roughly equal combination of social security, (non-government) pension, and investment income. At that time we arbitrarily computed income taxes for 2 income levels: $60,000 and $100,000. We then applied all the standard, personal, and over 65 exemptions we could find. These income levels are obviously
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Published on September 23, 2015
Comments 40
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
September 15, 2015 -- Lists of great places to retire are a commonplace these days - but it is novel to see one which includes places that haven't been mentioned before. Money has done just that with their list of "Best Places to Retire for 2015". Their complete list has 25 great towns; we are going to review the Top 10 on the list here. We like how they described the list: "These 25 towns offer a wealth of opportunities for enjoying your life after work—without cracking your nest egg".
The Money list has different categories - Best places for the arts, best places for the outdoors, best places for golf. One of the main attributes of the list was that the towns should not be prohibitively expensive. None of them are that, although many feature a median cost of home that is at or near the national median ($229,400 according to the National Association of Realtors® in 2015's 2nd Q). Some of these towns have been on various Topretirements.com lists before - many have not! Click on the name of the town to see
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Published on September 14, 2015
Comments 25
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
September 9, 2015 -- Have you been wondering how your retirement income stacks up to that of other retired people in your situation. Or whether it will be enough to provide your pre-retirement lifestyle? Well, thanks to the almost 1500 community-minded members who took the time to contribute their valuable data and insights to last week's "How Much Do You Expect to Receive in Retirement" survey, now you will know. If you didn't complete it you owe these folks a big thank you.
As promised, here is a detailed report on what the survey turned up. It includes links to hundreds of individual comments to various questions on the survey. Those include the one about your retirement budget preparations, and how confident you are that the income level you EXPECT to receive will be enough to maintain your pre-retirement standard of living. You will find a list of our previous survey reports at the end of the article.
Background
This is the first time we have asked you for data about your retirement income expectations, and how that agrees with what you think you will need. We were also intrigued with the question about whether you intend to move out of state, and if finances are related to that
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Published on September 8, 2015
Comments 17
Category: Work and Volunteering
September 1, 2015 -- Note: This is continuing series. See the latest installment: "The Sharing Economy Could Be Your Ticket to a Comfortable Retirement".
Elaine (Brickhorse), a longstanding member at Topretirements, recently asked if we could write an article about working and/or starting your own business in retirement. We think it is a great topic so we have shared some thoughts about it here. Best of all, we look forward to reading the experiences, hopes, and dreams of all the great people who contribute to this website in the Comments section below.
Sure, lots of people dream about starting their own business. It sounds great: be your own boss, make lots of money, work when you want to, do something you love - there are many good reasons (or fantasies!) to be an entrepreneur. On the other hand there are plenty of negative realities to think about. This article will explore the pros and cons, as well as summarize some of the current best practices for how to go about starting your own business, large or small.
The Pros
We think there are at least 4 great reasons to start a business in retirement:
- Do what you like to do. We read
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Published on August 31, 2015
Comments 10
