Category: International Retirement
June 11, 2014 -- Our friend Rick recently wrote us with a great question on how ex-pat retirees deal with healthcare and healthcare insurance when living in another country. We thought we had addressed this question in the Blog before, but after careful searching it doesn't look like we did that in any great depth.
Here is the question:
Recently one of our Bayview Park tennis players was traveling to Mexico, where he fell gravely ill and needed an emergency operation... Now it seems, since he first got sick on the plane flying there, Medicare will reimburse him for medical costs in Mexico... I will be traveling to Mexico soon myself, where I used to live, and may be spending more time there again. My question is about medical care and coverage abroad. I understand there are Medigap policies that may cover this, but I was wondering if
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Published on June 10, 2014
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Category: Home and Garden
By Jan Cullinane
June 10, 2014 -- Single women are the second-largest group of homeowners after couples, and they purchase almost twice as many homes on a first-time and repeat basis than single men do, reports the National Association of Home Builders.
More women than men live alone, and single women are more likely to own their homes than single men (56 percent compared to 47 percent). Recognizing that women are the prime drivers of the transaction in 91 percent of home purchases, more and more builders are creating
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Published on June 10, 2014
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Category: Checklists
June 3, 2014 -- Congratulations on your retirement, be it impending or already underway. You've worked hard to get to this point, and we hope you enjoy every well-deserved second. But before you get too carried away with your new-found freedom, we would like to bring to your attention some housekeeping items that need to be taken care of. These are in addition to, and in fact go off in a different direction from, the to-do items in Part 1 of this series: Now That You're 65: 10 Items You Need to Know. There is also a Part 3.
Peace of Mind and a Gift for Your Heirs
Today's To-Do list has to do more about taking steps to simplify the job for your heirs, once you pass on to Woodstock
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Published on June 3, 2014
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Category: Retirement Real Estate
WASHINGTON, May 8 - Builder confidence in the single-family 55+ housing market for the first quarter of 2014 reached the highest first-quarter reading since the inception of the index in 2008. That's according to the National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) latest 55+ Housing Market Index (HMI). Compared to the first quarter of 2013, the single-family index increased 4 points to a level of 50, which is and the 10th consecutive quarter of year over year improvements.
Good news from baby boomers fueling the market
"There are many factors contributing to the
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Published on June 2, 2014
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Category: Retirement Real Estate
May 28, 2014 -- We hear a lot of anecdotal information about snowbirds having problems finding a rental for the upcoming 2014-2015 winter season. The issue mostly goes back to the harsh winter we just ended, which has motivated more people to look for a winter break down south. Exacerbating the problem is a bumper crop of retiring boomers who are entering the rental market.
We know of one couple who gave up looking in Bonita Springs (FL) because they couldn't
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Published on May 28, 2014
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Category: Retirement Planning
May 27, 2014 -- Reality check: Even if you are among the fortunate half of baby boomers who will have enough money to maintain your pre-retirement lifestyle - you are still not out of the woods. That's because your financial well being is only one part of the retirement happiness equation - being prepared mentally and psychologically is just as important. In the first part of this article we've come up with 5 warning signs that you might not be well prepared psychologically for retirement. The second part has advice from various experts on the keys to solid mental preparation.
5 Warning Signs
There are probably a lot more than we have listed here. But yes answers to these questions as you start retirement might be a pretty good indication that your mental preparation for retirement is not up to snuff:
1. Most days you have nothing special to look forward to when you wake up in the morning.
2. Your best friends are at the job you just left.
3. Your personal identity is wrapped up in the title of the job you had previously.
4. You don't have any great reason to leave your house during the day.
5. You wish you weren't retired - or greatly fear you will soon be so.
Tips for Tuning up Your Retirement Psychological Profile
Here we've assembled some of the advice we have seen on getting psychologically ready for retirement.
People and dogs aren't so different
Dog trainers typically say that
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Published on May 27, 2014
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Category: Adventurous retirement
By Akaisha Kaderli
Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. Helen Keller
Recently I have been reading a book called Daring Greatly by Brene Brown. You may have heard of it. The theme of the book is about being vulnerable, taking risks and being willing to expose ourselves to possible failure. It’s an enlightening read - and one that we think has relevance to those of us entering retirement.
I bring this up because what I want to share with you that security has a price. Everyone speaks about how risk is dangerous
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Published on May 22, 2014
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
May 21, 2014 -- If you are an outdoor oriented person the chances are you have dreamed about retiring to a town in the mountains.You might love to ski, hike, camp, fish, mountain bike, or just plain admire the beautiful scenery mountains have in such ample supply. This article is a companion to our other articles about great retirements near the water, in cities, college towns, and small towns (see Further Reading at end of article for more about them).
When some people think of mountain towns they might be thinking of a small community pushed up against the edge of towering peaks. Colorado and much of the American west have plenty of those. Yet for others the mountains might just mean having some nearby foothills. With that in mind we have tried to present a range of communities in this article. There are so many great mountain towns to choose from that we promise a Part 2 in these series.
Advantages
For those who aspire to a mountain retirement, here are some of the advantages that come with them:
- Cooler summers. Altitude means an escape from hot
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Published on May 21, 2014
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
May 2, 2014 -- In Florida's golden days in the early 20th century a group of inspired visionaries created many graceful towns. They produced magical communities that attracted hundreds of thousands of retirees from the north. Other towns somehow became classics just because of where they were situated or their economic success in their past. Moving forward to this century, most of these towns still have the great bones that made them attractive back in the day. This article will review some of our favorite "Old Florida" towns that make great places to retire right now.
Planning pays off
Many, but not all, of the classic Florida towns we know about were carefully planned. As a result they have symmetry and
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Published on May 3, 2014
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
April 29, 2014 -- For folks interested in an active retirement community for the mind there are few choices better than a college town. With so many advantages, and a minimum of reasons why not to try it, it is not surprising that so many baby boomers are exploring a college town retirement. This article, Part 2 in our series (see Part 1: "Should You Be Retiring to a College Town"), will explore many of the reasons why a college town retirement is so desirable, as well as list some of the more appealing campus towns in our database. We are indebted to frequent contributor Jan Cullinane, author of The Single Woman's Guide to Retirement (AARP/Wiley) and many other books and articles, for her insights into the advantages and drawbacks of college town life (see below).
College Towns. Here we mean a place where the college is the dominant influence on the flavor and
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Published on April 29, 2014
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