January
As some Gen Xers watch their kids grow up, they wonder if college should take priority over retirement. If you happen to be thinking along these lines, there are reasons you may want to think twice.
January
Does this sound like an out-of-the-box idea? It worked for The Golden Girls, and in real life, it may have potential benefits for you, especially if you are retiring single or childless.
NOVEMBER
If you keep working or return to work after receiving Social Security benefits, your benefits may seem reduced, perhaps if your annual income exceeds a certain threshold.
NOVEMBER
If you want to slow mental and physical aging, working out might be the key - and even just walking may benefit you.
GOLF TIP
Too many golfers suffer from "the yips": missing putts of 3' or less due to anxiety or a slipshod putting technique.
SEPTEMBER
Perhaps you could do so in a simpler financial world – but as retirement comes with financial complexities, a purely formulaic approach may fall short.
SEPTEMBER
In recent decades, medical journals and news outlets have devoted more attention to the diseases linked to sustained inflammation.
JULY
In a perfect world, most would consider waiting until their full retirement age to file for Social Security.
JULY
Travel is certainly a highlight of retirement. To keep those travel highlights coming, you need to keep healthy, including taking care of yourself "on the road" and at your destination.
JUNE
If you have the chance to open a Health Savings Account (HSA), you might want to take a look.
JUNE
Retiring before 60 can be fantastic if your financial situation looks good and you know what you want to do next
JUNE - GOLF TIP
Sometimes the golf you play in your mind's eye fails to correspond to reality.
MAY
Some of the "conventional financial wisdom" circulating about retirement may need a second look because those assumptions may not prove true for everyone
MAY
Eldercare takes different forms: nursing home care, assisted living, adult daycare, and even some forms of healthcare administered at home.
APRIL
Spring cleaning: you tidy up, organize, and put things in order. You can take a "spring cleaning" approach to your retirement, just as you can with your home or garage. It may be helpful, especially if retirement seems near.
APRIL
Road Scholar (previously known as Elderhostel) says 66% of grandparents report having vacationed with grandchildren. If you have such a trip coming, think about involving the grandkids. What do your grandkids want to see?
APRIL RECIPE
Superb Spring Vegan Blackberry Cobbler
Source: The Simple Veganista, March 13, 20222
MARCH
Have you ever thought about giving financial gifts to your kids or grandkids? Many affluent retirees and pre-retirees do this, often with an eye toward furthering family wealth.
MARCH
Yes, you can work out consistently without a gym membership or $200 shoes or fancy machines. Creating a home workout area, and routine, is often easier than many people think.
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MARCH - GOLF TIP
Are you forty, fifty, eighty feet away from the cup? Whether you want to lag or hole that long putt, the skill lies in your eyes and follow-through
FEBRuaRY
Our attitudes about investing, saving, spending and financial matters are shaped by a variety of influences, both early and later in life.
FEBRUARY
Set the pandemic aside for a moment. If keeping healthy ranks as your top priority, where should you retire or live? You have many choices, of course.
JANUARY
Did you ever wonder what might result from such a small boost to your retirement saving effort, even in midlife?
JANAUARY
America has seen an uptick in the number of seniors leaving full-time jobs. Pew Research Center data shows that 50.3% of adults older than age 55 were retired in the third quarter of 2021, a 2.2% increase from 2019.
JANUARY-TRAVEL TIP
The airlines have had a change of heart about change fees
Here in the pandemic, airlines have eased up on their old habit of charging travelers $200 or more to reschedule or cancel a flight.
DECEMBER
If your anticipated retirement date seems about five years away, think about some of the proactive steps you could take before that date arrives
DECEMBER
In theory, many acute illnesses could be treated by medical professionals making house calls. With a little push from the pandemic, doctors, nurses, and home health care providers out west and in the east are putting theory into practice.
DECEMBER
Golf Tips
When you tee up on a par 4 or par 5, pick a target
Most golfers tee up on par 4s and par 5s with the simple idea of hitting it down the fairway.
NOVEMBER
When the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act became law on January 1, 2020, it altered rules for retirement accounts with a goal of helping both retirees and pre-retirees.
November
Does paying with cash seem passe to you? How about swiping or inserting a credit or debit card? PYMNTS, which analyzes U.S. commerce trends, reports that contactless point-of-sale transactions have doubled since 2020.
OCTOBER
Are you getting more unwanted text messages on your phone than you used to get? That is partly the result of a good thing – robocalls have declined. Robotexts, however, have increased.
OCTOBER
According to a 2021 Jackson Physician Search survey, 21% of U.S. doctors are considering retirement and another 15% are thinking about getting out of health care and taking their skills or education to a different industry
OCTOBER - TRAVEL TIP
Bring basics on board, not the whole closet
Traveling for a week, or less? There’s no need to lug along a closet full of clothes and shoes.
SEPTEMBER
Since 2002, Americans aged 50 and older have been permitted to make annual "catch-up" contributions to popular retirement accounts – but according to Vanguard’s 2021 How America Saves report, just 15% of retirement savers do.
SEPTEMBER
For generations, teens in Europe have opted for a year off to adventure and see the world before starting their university educations – an interim commonly referred to as a "gap year". It turns out some American seniors are also taking a "gap year" between full-time work and retirement, but instead of avoiding campus, they are using the transition to take advantage of expanded adult education at our own colleges.
SEPTEMBER
GOLF TIP
Think twice about playing from the toughest tees
Many golf courses now give you the option to play from four, five, or even six sets of tees, and the difference between the front tees and the back tees on a regulation course can be as much as 2,000 yards. Some golfers insist on playing from the back tees, which are usually intended for tournaments
August
We can reasonably say that the more money you retire with, the more potential you have to enjoy retirement. Now, what about friendship? If you maintain some strong friendships and an active social circle after age 60, can that make a big difference in the quality of your "second act"?
August
Many retirees think about volunteering and some follow through on that thought, although according to an AgeWave survey published in June, the retirees who do volunteer spend fewer hours helping their communities or favorite causes than they would like. What if they devoted just two or three hours more per week to it? Would the effect be sizable, even profound? Maybe.
August
Travel TIP
Need to show your ID? You may have a new option: a digital driver's license
Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wyoming now offer digital driver's licenses valid for all transactions or situations requiring ID.
July
Data from a newly released Harris Poll of more than 1,000 U.S. workers suggests that a majority of pre-retirees might answer "yes" to that question. Sixty-six percent of respondents to the poll identified their financial health as a component of their overall well-being. In fact, financial health ranked up near physical health (74%) and mental health (70%). Fifty-seven percent of those polled saw a relationship between all three factors, holding the opinion that their money, their lifestyle, and their health were integrated holistically, with each factor impacting another.
July
For jobseekers older than 50, the hunt for satisfying work can be tough - but with such strong demand for skilled workers this year, your own search might lead you to a job you love. In a new book titled The Job Closer (recently the subject of a Next Avenue article), Duke University business professor and career coach Steve Dalton helps older (and younger) jobseekers out with some tips for 2021.
July
Golf TIP
Fixing a bad hook
Why do golfers hit bad hooks? It may have nothing to do with their shoulders or arms. Rather, the right hand could be the culprit: it rolls over the left hand through the impact area. (The inverse applies for lefties.) Some golfers have a goal of staying "behind the ball" until the moment of impact and then crushing that tee shot (or fairway shot) with a powerful delayed release.
June
When the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act became law in 2019, it altered retirement plan contribution and distribution rules. There may be an encore. The Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2021, nicknamed SECURE Act 2.0, has bipartisan support on Capitol Hill, and public policy analysts widely believe it will become law either this year or next.
June
Digital health certificates – also called COVID vaccine passports – might be available for travelers this year, especially those travelers leaving the country. While U.S. retailers and resorts have been resistant to them, the situation may change this summer as Americans travel internationally and head to foreign airports to come home.
June
HEALTH TIP
Try herbal teas to help clean the body of harmful microorganisms
Herbal teas (such as rooibos, chamomile, and mint) contain catechins, plant-derived chemicals that have been noted for their strong antimicrobial properties.
May
A new study from Hearts and Wallets, a research firm founded in 2010 to study American retirement saving and investing trends, hints that the dream of retiring in late middle age is alive and well, although perhaps in need of a reality check.
May
Many adults in their 40s, 50s, and 60s have migrated from their initial career to a second or even a third, learning new skill sets or even going back to college for another degree. You learn all your life, the thinking goes.
April
In March, the Internal Revenue Service announced that it was pushing the deadline for 2020 federal tax returns ahead to Monday, May 17. This extended due date does not apply to all individual taxpayers, though. For example, if you live in Texas, Oklahoma, or Louisiana, you could have the opportunity to file as late as June.
April
Today, it can be hard to focus. How can you stay focused with all the distractions, anxiety, and uncertainty brought by the pandemic? Interestingly, the way to maintain your focus might be to unfocus your mind now and then.
March
Imagine if your 35-year-old self magically appeared in front of you one day and asked for a percentage of your retirement savings or a bit of your retirement income. While this would never happen, something financially analogous happens in the lives of too many people.
March
The hospitality sector certainly hopes travel comes back with a vengeance, but travelers look like they will avenge the boredom of 2020 with more than a little caution and care. This winter, global marketing firm Simon-Kucher & Partners (SKP) surveyed more than 3,900 Americans and Europeans to gauge their travel readiness
March
Golf Tip -
You ultimately play against the course, not the rest of your foursome
This is good to remember whether you find yourself in a tournament, or just paired up with friends on the weekend. Your real opponent is the course, and focusing on what you need to do on each hole helps you avoid getting too excited or too demoralized by what your playing partners are doing.
Source: PrecisionProGolf.com, February 16, 20212
February
The pandemic has hastened the retirement of some baby boomers, and the linked furloughs and layoffs in many industries have led others to wonder if a retirement transition might come sooner than they think. Buyouts became common last year as businesses cut costs. What if you receive one this year?
February
Time is a gift, and when you retire, you'll no doubt think about making the most of it. Would it be weird to make a weekly schedule for yourself in retirement, similar to the way you scheduled workweeks during your career? Scheduling your time has its merits, at any age. It could help you stay productive on a day-to-day basis during your "second act," whether you elect to work or not.
February
TRAVEL TIP - During the pandemic, some families have booked short-term getaways at vacation homes or rural properties only to have to cancel them due to travel restrictions or changing public health protocols. Whether you must cancel such a reservation due to the pandemic or other reasons, you may have a better chance of getting a partial refund from the host than from the rental agency or website, whose cancellation policies may be far less forgiving.
June
A 2019 whitepaper by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) indicates that Americans tend to spend less as they age.
June
A Harris Poll, conducted in May, of 2,030 U.S. adults found some interesting choices regarding where Americans would like to live at the moment, particularly seniors. The research firm discovered that the appeal of rural areas, or at least, exurban or suburban areas, may be growing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
June
Travel Tip: Consider COVID-19 risk on a summer road trip
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is no longer advising Americans to refrain from “nonessential” domestic travel, as it did earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic.
May
Some people approach their retirement years owning illiquid assets worth more than their liquid ones. While long-held illiquid assets, such as a business or home, may become highly valued or appreciated over time, it can be wise to be frank and conservative when estimating their worth, especially if an owner wants to sell them to help fund their “second act.”
May
As most of the nation contended with stay-at-home orders this spring, polling firm YouGov decided to survey 1,175 American adults to see what activities they might want to do once businesses fully reopen and social-distancing mandates end.
May
Golf Tip Why not leave the flagstick in? As courses have opened back up across the country, many are urging golfers to leave the flagstick in the hole when they reach the green.
April
Staying productive in the time of COVID-19 can be a challenge. Rather than pulling out the board games, you might want to use the opportunity to stress-test your plans for early retirement.
April
Bills going through Congress and signed into law at the White House might alter your retirement in some significant ways, particularly as many of the changes relate to taking money from various retirement accounts.
March
What is your most powerful tool for building retirement savings? Perhaps, your income. For that matter, the path of your career could influence when and how well your retirement begins.
March
Data from the Cruise Lines International Association shows that one-third of the people who board cruise ships are aged 60 or older. Given enough retirement income and savings, could a couple of weeks at sea turn into a couple of months, years, or decades?
February
Retirement saving is not just about accumulating assets. It is also about laying the groundwork for retirement spending.
February
A quick look at some federal government statistics provides a quick answer: no. Perhaps it seems like big cities are filled with baby boomers because of the simple fact that this demographic group is larger than others.
February
Airlines use dynamic pricing to adjust airfares relative to demand, and they can actually do this per consumer.