The Best Life
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How to Build Your Own Retirement Village
Continue reading… 0 CommentsThousands of groups of senior citizens around the country are somewhere in the process of developing what have come to be called "villages" -- networks of like-minded seniors who join together in neighborhood-centric groups to benefit from shopping discounts, social activities, transportation, home repairs, and a variety of volunteered support activities. Even five years ago, the Internet had not evolved to the point where such networking could be so easy to provide. But today, the village movement is a textbook example of how technology can help older Americans improve the quality of their lives, remain in their homes as they age, and possibly save a bundle of money in the process. And with the government facing enormous deficits for the foreseeable future, villages also represent a welcome, cost-effective way for citizens to take responsibility for themselves during an era of declining public resources.
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Design Awards Enable Aging in Place
Continue reading… 2 CommentsMaking homes suitable for elderly occupants is easy to describe, but it can be very expensive to do. The cheapest solution is to make homes senior-friendly when they are built, rather than trying to retrofit them. Some of the most elegant and cost-effective solutions are recognized each year by AARP and the National Association of Home Builders. The winning designs employ imaginative solutions that reduce energy consumption and use smart communications tools for home security and health-related "telemedical" applications. It will be some time before these "early adapter" designs are widely available. But they point the way toward solutions that older residents should explore for their existing homes or in new housing if they are considering such a move.
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Is it OK to Make Fun of Older People?
Continue reading… 16 Comments"Wait, Wait . . . Don't Tell Me!" is one of my favorite radio broadcasts. The National Public Radio news quiz show has a rotating panel of visiting wits and a celebrity guest each week, along with call-in participants who are asked to answer questions about recent events both real and fabricated. Host Peter Sagal has a sure touch in keeping the discussion lively and entertaining. And while Carl Kasell may have retired from doing the morning news on NPR, his familiar and comforting tones may still be heard here.
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Obama Retirement Proposals Tell a Sad Story
Continue reading… 48 CommentsArguing against new government inducements to improve retirement plans is an uncomfortable place to be. Who could possibly be opposed to the goal of a comfortable retirement? Who doesn't want to help older Americans achieve that goal? Who doesn't agree that something is terribly wrong when middle-class salaries actually are lower, after inflation adjustments, than they were a decade ago? Surely, we must do something about this.
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How to Cut Retirement Fund Expenses
Continue reading… 1 CommentCutting the management and investment fees charged by your retirement funds can add a lot of money to your nest egg without sacrificing any of your investment goals. This work will take you an hour or two at most and could add thousands of dollars to your retirement savings. Seem like a good investment?
You may have an active 401(k) retirement plan with an employer. Or perhaps you've rolled over such a plan into an IRA or other self-directed retirement account. The odds are good that most, if not all, of your investments are in mutual funds. A few years ago, a survey of 401(k) account holders found that most people thought they paid no fees at all on their mutual fund holdings. But there are fees—lots of them—and they can be steep. But they are largely invisible to investors. The recipients of your retirement fund fees may be the firm that administers your plan, the mutual fund companies with whom you've invested your retirement assets, or the brokerage company that administers your IRA and other self-directed accounts.
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Home Repair Tips for Winter Damages
Continue reading… 0 CommentsWith winter storms regularly sweeping the country and unusually cold temperatures in warm-weather areas such as Florida, the threat of serious water damage has become all too real for many homeowners. Here is some expert advice on dealing with these headaches. It is provided by home-repair specialists who are highly regarded by users of Angie's List, the fee-based online community that shares consumer evaluations of local contractors and service providers.
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Unhappiness, Yes; Defeatism, No
Continue reading… 2 CommentsIs health reform on life support? Did Massachusetts really speak for the rest of the country? Hey, I don't know. I don't think other people do, either. But it is clear that whatever you call the 2,000-page healthcare legislative leviathan, it's not going anywhere for a while. It's also clear that the nation is filled with a lot of unhappy people, and that trust is about as hard to find today as a job.
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4 Essential Steps to Financial Reality
Continue reading… 3 CommentsBefore getting too far into the new year, it's important to develop a realistic record of where you ended 2009 and how your financial situation changed during the year. You'd think everyone would already know where they stand, but such financial self-awareness is the exception. And obtaining it does take time and effort. But doing an annual report on your finances can provide an invaluable record that only you can assemble. Done properly, it should illuminate your future, paving the way to important financial decisions and helping you make smarter choices.
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Target Date Funds Up 27 Percent for Year
Continue reading… 0 CommentsTarget date funds posted their third straight quarterly gain in last year's fourth quarter, a 4 percent increase that trailed a 6 percent rise in the S&P 500 index of widely held stocks. For the entire year, target date funds were up 27.1 percent, according to a report from Ibbotson Associates, a unit of Morningstar. The past three quarters follow six straight quarterly losses during the stock market's extended decline. Measured from the market's peak in October 2007, Ibbotson said, the average target date fund lost 7 percent a year, compared with an 11 percent drop in the S&P 500.
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End-of-Life Medical Spending Not So Wasteful
Continue reading… 1 CommentImagine two deer trying to escape a searing forest fire. One deer is old and hobbled; the other young and fit. Which one tries harder? Of course, they both try as hard as they can. Would anyone expect the older deer to give up the fight for life because of his age?
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