Filed under: Retire, Retirement Advice
Golf and playing cards aren’t the only things to do in retirement. At least not at many retirement communities, which specialize in unusual activities or cater to retirees with the same interests.
“Just because someone is old doesn’t mean they want to sit around and play Bingo and watch TV all day,” said Don Shulman, general manager of Fox Hill Senior Condominiums in Bethesda, Maryland, in a telephone interview with WalletPop.
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Filed under: Retire, Retirement Advice
Money is only a small part of what makes you happy after you retire, says blogger Sydney Lagier, a former certified public accountant who left the working world two years ago at the young age of 44 and now writes about the experience of escaping the grind for U.S. News & World Report.
Here are what she says are the seven secrets to retirement happiness.
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Filed under: Retire, Wealth
Six out of 10 Americans who aren’t yet receiving Social Security believe they never will, according to a Gallup Poll conducted earlier this month. A similar number — 56% — of retired Americans now collecting Social Security believe their benefits will be cut.
Yet getting rid of Social Security or even reducing payments to current or soon-to-be recipients would be an incredibly hard sell. About 26 percent of retirees depend solely on Social Security. The National Center for Policy Analysis also calculates that Social Security provides one-third of the retirement income of the highest-earning households — couples with pre-retirement incomes of $500,000 and singles who earned at least $250,000.
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Filed under: Banks, Retire, Technology, Banking – Checking Account
Last month, I wrote about a big move by the Treasury Department to make all payments from the U.S. government electronically. In the announcement, Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag called the change a “win-win for the American public.” Now, we’re hearing from others with a different opinion.
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Filed under: Family Money, Retire
For older Americans surveyed by Allianz Life Insurance Co., death is not such a big deal. Not, that is, when it compares to the spectre of a dwindling bank account. In a poll of people between the ages of 44 and 75, 61% said that running out money was their biggest fear. The remaining 39% thought death was scarier.
With a couple of banking crises under our belts, we’ve become almost entirely focused on the monetary aspect of advanced age. The context is important. The poll of 3,257 people, released last month, found that a whopping 92% of respondents agreed that “the United States is facing a crisis in its retirement system,” the AARP wrote about the report. (Continue the story…)
Filed under: Family Money, Retire, Credit Cards
You probably wouldn’t realize it from the way credit card companies market to consumers willy-nilly, but there are big differences between the “ideal” credit card for a college grad and those marketed toward his or her grandparents. According to experts WalletPop interviewed by phone recently, you really need to keep in mind what stage of life you’re in (young adult, married, senior and so on) when you shop for a credit card.
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Filed under: Retire
By Caitlin Dewey, Kiplinger
Striking a balance between a high quality of life and low cost of living can be a difficult challenge for retirees. With that in mind, we at Kiplinger offer five destinations that seniors might find attractive places to live in the second half of their lives.
SLIDE SHOW: See the 5 Great Cities for Retirees, at a Glance
We started our search for top retirement destinations using the criteria we used to select our overall list of Best Cities for the Next Decade. What more are seniors looking for? Retiree-friendly factors such as a high number of doctors and large percentages of populations over 65 helped to drive a unique list of 20 growing cities.
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Filed under: Retire, Wealth, Travel, Retirement Advice
So your 401K has been hammered and you’ll have to work to the age of 100 to afford retirement? Not necessarily, according to Kathleen Peddicord, an expert on retiring to less expensive places outside the U.S. There are, she told me, spots only a few hours of plane time south of the U.S. where an American could find a lifestyle much like at home for only $1,200 – $1,500 a month. If you’re willing to ‘go native’, you could “live very well for under $1,000″.
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Filed under: Banks, Retire, In the News
Today the Treasury Department will announce that all payments from the U.S. government will be made electronically to consumers. So people receiving Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, Veterans, Railroad Retirement and U.S. government benefit recipients will receive benefits either through direct deposit into a bank account or through Treasury’s Direct Express debit card.
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Filed under: Bargains, Family Money, Retire, Saving Money, Shopping, Travel
Membership has its privileges, the question is — are they worth it? Unequivocally, the answer is a resounding … maybe! Ultimately, the value of anything depends on how much you use it. If you pay $399 for a Disneyland annual pass and go once, that’s an expensive trip. If you buy the same pass and go 200 times you’ll be paying $1.99 per day –a deal! You might be singing It’s a Small World in your sleep, but you will have received your money’s worth.
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