Making a List, Checking It Twice

As the year begins to wind down, it’s common to spend some time reflecting upon key events of the last twelve months. We think about the good and the bad and all the stuff in between and we look forward, with some combination of anticipation and trepidation, to starting again with a whole new set … Read more

Give and Take

Lots of important financial announcements came down from the government this week that should be of interest to retirees and those looking to retire in the near future. As usual with Washington, there’s some good news and some bad news. Here’s a quick look… For those who are still working and can contribute to some … Read more

The Devil Is in the Details

Sometimes the ideas that resonate most for you on a particular subject come from unexpected sources. Consider this quote from renowned pop artist Andy Warhol: “Dying is the most embarrassing thing that can ever happen to you, because someone’s got to take care of all your details.” I’m not sure exactly which details Andy was … Read more

A Crucial Decade

My 60th birthday is rapidly approaching. Yikes! On most every day, I feel much younger than my mental image of a 60-year-old, but the calendar tells the truth. My birth year of 1954 places me squarely in the middle of the Baby Boomer generation, defined as those born between 1945 and 1964. That placement resulted … Read more

Half Empty or Half Full?

Is the average Baby Boomer retiree’s glass half empty or half full? After several years of nothing but gloom and doom scenarios and projections for boomer retirees, there is finally some good news to report…maybe. A  recent survey conducted by Baltimore-based investment management firm T. Rowe Price concluded that many newly-minted retirees are finding that … Read more

Live Long and Prosper

Star Trek fans (especially those of the original TV series that began in 1966) can picture it clearly; the stony-faced, somber man with the oddly pointed ears greeting a fellow crew member with a distinct hand gesture and the phrase, “Live long and prosper.” It seems like a nice sentiment, but, for those of us … Read more

To Claim or Not To Claim

“What’s the harm in that?” you might well ask. These folks have worked hard all their lives, they’ve paid into Social Security for all their working years and they deserve to get some of that hard earned cash back in the form of a government pension. What does it mean to take an early Social … Read more

Your Next Move – Deciding Where To Retire

And yet, BankRate.com’s annual compilation of best places to retire: reveals that, according to their specific criteria, South Dakota should indeed be a contender, garnering the number one slot in combined scoring of cost of living, crime rate, health care, taxes, weather and personal well-being. Most of us would not have seen that coming. Is … Read more

On the Bright Side

Last week I received an email announcement containing a link to a video segment produced by ABC’s New York affiliate Channel 4. In it, reporter Pat Battle interviewed the residents and staff at a local residential care facility called Bright Side Manor. This piqued my interest for a couple of reasons. The first reason, strictly … Read more