Bob Lew retired a couple of years ago after working for 25 years as an emergency room physician. He was just 51, but after all that time in the ER, he was ready for a break, and he had met his financial goals for retirement.
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Six months of aggressive interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve may be good for the economy, but it's bad news for many seniors who rely on fixed-income investments.
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There's no shortage of bad news about aging and retirement. Whether it's ballooning Social Security and Medicare payments or the brain drain of millions of baby boomers leaving the workforce, the headlines all seem to focus on the increasing burdens of an aging population.
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Benjamin Franklin famously said that "in this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." With April 15 right around the corner, let's talk about the more palatable of Franklin's two certainties.
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You plan your retirement savings. You probably have some plans for retirement travel. Maybe you've got a plan for the dream retirement home.
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The oldest baby boomer turned 62 this month and promptly signed up for Social Security. But it probably wasn't a very smart financial move.
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Q: My wife and I have a new grandson and would like to help save for his education. Our credit union sent us a form for a "Coverdell Education Savings Account" and our broker's newsletter mentioned "529" plans. Would you explain similarities and differences?
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Look up "retirement" in the dictionary and you'll find words like withdrawal, seclusion, removal, retreat.
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Seven years and 363 columns ago, we began writing Retire Smart with the basic premise that retirement as a period of uninterrupted and often-purposeless leisure didn't make sense.
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Besides stuffing ourselves and plopping ourselves on the couch in front of the TV for wall-to-wall-football games, let's find the time during holiday family gatherings for "the conversation."
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The outdated notion of retirement as one last long vacation before we die is dead. For proof, browse the shelves of any large bookstore or search online for new titles exploring the emerging trend of post-retirement work.
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We often answer readers' questions and the common theme of our answers is, "It isn't so."
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In just a few days, Stephen would add Tunisia, Algeria and Libya to his list. "I've been to 102 countries," he told us during a recent cruise, "and now it'll be 105."
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My wife, Georgina, and I and decided not to begin filing for Social Security benefits for another three years, figuring for us it is better to wait until we each reach our full retirement age of 66. But we already know how we're going to do it: Online.
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On average, Americans in their early 60s like us can expect to live close to 20 more years. Nobody in our immediate families has lived longer, so we'll be thrilled if we make it that far.
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Quiz time. The best place to retire in the United States is:
a) Bozeman, Montana
b) Walla Walla, Washington
c) Couer d'Alene, Idaho
d) St. George, Utah
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Would you pay more attention to us if we told you we are senior specialists? After all, we specialize in matters of interest to seniors.
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Frank Redway wanted to do something special after retiring from a career in retail at age 65 in May. So he and his 67-year-old wife, Kay, a schoolteacher who retired in June, set sail on a cruise to Alaska this summer.
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Here's our problem: We want our money to be safe in retirement and to earn a good return. We want it to provide an income that lasts as long as we live and keeps up with inflation.
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Like many seniors, we've done our share of volunteering at our public library, art museum and schools. Come Jan. 19, we'll get a chance to do it at an orphanage in Mexico.
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I get this question at least once a week. The answer is relevant whether you're retired or just starting out.
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You can use your money to buy soup, yogurt or ice cream. Each comes in so many flavors that it may take you a while to figure out which one you want, if any. But you do have choices and are not stuck with one type.
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You decide.
One choice is between getting the most money to spend in retirement but leaving nothing to your heirs, or receiving less so they can get something when you die.
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It's like a "Not-So Newlywed Game," but the questions are serious rather than risque and the answers are not at all funny.
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We can vouch for this: No matter how meticulously you plan your retirement, there will be surprises.
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To all retired mothers with daughters out there: If you could give your daughter one piece of advice about planning for retirement, what would it be?
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Snoopy and Woodstock, the Peanuts characters, build an outdoors fire in the children's animated movie "Snoopy, Come Home!"
"They are camping!" exclaimed our 6-year-old grandson, Aidan, watching the movie with us. "Can we go camping?"
Our second grandson, 3-year-old Julian, echoed the question with his big green eyes.
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Americans love aromatherapy massages and body wraps. Signaling a growing trend, 54 percent of travelers surveyed by the Travel Industry Association of America last year were interested in going to a spa for their vacation, including 28 percent who were more interested than five years before.
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At a busy street in Detroit, thanks to a Michigan Department of Transportation initiative, brighter stoplights and pavement markings and larger street signs have reduced injury accidents for drivers age 65 and over by 35 percent.
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You the readers make personal the topics we write about, and that much more meaningful.
Take Angela Fox, commenting on our column about the need for couples to communicate about retirement planning, including money matters.
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Women tend to fall behind on the road to retirement because they typically earn less than men and don't tend to save as much. Women are also less likely to receive a traditional pension. Combine the fact that women live longer and it is easy to understand that boomer-age woman are facing a tough road to retirement. Luckily there are some easy steps women can take to prepare for a secure retirement and here are some examples:
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As the old year winds down, millions of Americans will engage in the ritual of New Year resolutions. We will resolve to lose weight, give up smoking, take control of our finances, be better spouses and parents and so on and so forth.
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Valentine's Day is only weeks away, so what a perfect time to plan that second honeymoon. With the pressures of work and raising a family behind us, this is the moment to think of ourselves and enjoy a romantic getaway -- and time for our annual column on the subject.
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Wow! We just discovered an extra $730,000 we didn't realize we had. And you too probably will find a big amount if you look.
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It's easy for seniors to pile up debt, but it's especially hard for them to pay it off.
Income usually falls in later years while preretirement spending habits linger. There are gifts to children and grandchildren. Grandparents may be asked to help with school bills or finance a child's new home or business - and it's hard to say no. Medical bills increase with age - unforeseen medical expenses are the leading cause of personal bankruptcies.
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One of the main worries most Americans have is will they have enough saved when they hit retirement. Two things are for sure, you want enough money to live a comfortable lifestyle and you don't want to run out of money. Here are 10 tips that can help ease your mind if followed:
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It is never too early to start thinking about your retirement and the financial resources you will need in your retirement. While a Certified Financial Planner is generally your best option when considering how to plan for your retirement, there are free calculators available on the Internet that can help you determine where you stand with your retirement savings and what you need to be saving to maintain your lifestyle when you retire.
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Woman are hit with a double whammy when it comes to retirement… Not only do woman tend to have smaller retirement accounts than men, they typically live longer. Here are the major retirement traps for women and how to avoid, or at least minimize, them.
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?When I leave work I don?t plan to sit around for 20 or 30 years.?
?I work just as well as my younger colleagues, but increasingly I want more flexibility to pursue my passions in life.?
These comments, taken word for word from a major new global study, tell us how a growing number of people feel throughout the world, particularly in the more developed countries.
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Executives don't need golden parachutes when they arrive with golden hellos.
One reason executive pay has soared in recent years is that compensation deals are getting more lucrative at the front end, with fat signing bonuses and initial grants of stock, according to a study released last week by Corporate Library, a pro-investor research firm.
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I don?t have proof. But I get the unmistakable sense that many Americans are coming to terms with the fact their poor savings habits have them headed for trouble ? and it?s up to them to straighten themselves out.
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The same thing has happened this year with our auto insurance, cable television and Internet service, medical insurance, homeowners? association dues, electricity, water and sewer service and grocery bills.
They?ve all gone up, by 3 percent for the groceries to 29 percent for our medical insurance. We are paying more than we did last year for the same things, just as we paid more in 2005 than in 2004.
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t has been a bad scene for years, and it's getting worse.
We are talking about the "educational seminars" for seniors that dangle a free lunch or dinner as bait. Direct-mail solicitations and advertisements in the newspapers tell us we "must" attend if we want to safeguard the life savings we've worked so hard and so long for.
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For all their misgivings about the future of Social Security, American workers are surely counting heavily on it to fund their retirement.
All the more worrisome, then, is that the vast majority of workers, despite seven years of personal reminders, still don't realize that the age to receive full Social Security benefits is being raised gradually, and therefore is likely higher than they think.
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Even free money can?t get millions of Americans to save.
Instead, the best way to get them to do it is to force them, unless they specifically say they don?t want to.
I?ve come to this conclusion, a bit discouraging to me but accepting of human nature, after years of reviewing studies and research papers on ways to get Americans to save more for retirement.
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He wasn?t kidding, a reader assured me. On the advice of a tax professional, a friend had transferred $10,000 a year from his individual retirement account to each of his daughters? IRAs without paying any tax. So, the reader asked, couldn?t he do it too?
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After years of admonitions, Americans? retirement dreams are still filled with holes. But now the holes are getting harder to plug. For some, it?s already too late.
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Retirement is an opportunity to do what you love and are good at. And if you want to earn money, you can turn your passion and experience into a new source of income.
Review your interests?horseback riding, golf, animals, crafts, books, garage sales, etc. Chances are you can find extra income in those areas.
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Something your stockbroker won?t tell you?you can buy the retirement home of your dreams with your IRA.
Traditional and Roth IRAs can purchase all kinds of property, from
homes to apartment buildings.
By owning real estate, you diversify away from stocks and bonds and
keep ahead of inflation. Returns for real estate average 14% a year, versus the 12% 30-year average for stocks.*
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Do you know if your parents have enough income to make ends meet?what kind of retirement savings they have?how they would foot the bill if one or both needed full-time medical care?
If you find these topics difficult to broach, you?re not alone. Talking to one?s parents about money can be awkward?especially since parents are used to giving advice, not taking it.
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Target-retirement funds, which offer investors a set-and-forget approach to retirement saving, are becoming more aggressive at some fund companies.
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What is assisted living? The Assisted Living Federation of America (ALFA) defines assisted living as "the housing and health care alternative combining independence with personal care in a warm, dignified, community setting." An assisted living facility is a viable option to consider if a loved one needs help with certain activities, from meal preparation to bathing, yet doesn't want or need to be completely dependent upon a caregiver.
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Talking about money, under the best of circumstances, makes most people uncomfortable. Talking to your aging parents about their finances can be particularly difficult. Children are afraid to appear controlling or impatient to receive their inheritances, while parents are reluctant to surrender their autonomy or confront their mortality. Not discussing this vital issue, however, can lead to significant and irreversible trouble down the road.
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The costs of retirement communities can confuse, as evidenced by this e-mail from a reader in North Carolina:
Q: Recently you wrote you were beginning to look at continuing care retirement communities. My wife and I retired three years ago and have been looking at CCRCs, although we don?t plan on entering one for at least a decade when we are in our late 70s. In terms of facilities and services, many are quite attractive. What puzzles us are the costs, such as entrance fees, ?equity?? interests and monthly charges. We hope you can provide some clues for evaluation.
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For many Americans tired of the 9-to-5 (or sometimes 24/7) grind, retirement can?t come soon enough. They fantasize about it, thinking about all the things they?ll be finally be able to do once they rid themselves of the work chains.
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The part that worried me the most, because I am not at all mechanically inclined, was unfolding and setting up the three-legged easel before class. Next, I had to hang the demonstration board properly or everything could come tumbling down.
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ORLANDO, Fla. -- For home builders, they are among the weightiest questions for the next 20 years: Where will the baby boomers really want to move, when and if they sell the homes where they've raised their families?
Will they opt for the stereotypical post-retirement golf course communities so popular in the 1980s and '90s? Will they head for new beach and ski resort real estate developments? Or will they downsize and move to a center city condo to maximize use of cultural attractions and avoid long commutes?
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