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How to tell if you should move in retirement

move in retirement
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Retirement Roundup: a digest of timely information and insight about finance, investing, and retirement.

How to tell if you should move in retirement | U.S. News & World Report

Moving into a less expensive home in retirement can improve your retirement finances. You may also be able to move closer to good health care options or the leisure activities you desire. While moving to a new town can create problems as you have to re-establish a support system of friends, neighbors and services, several reasons might be convincing enough to make moving look like a good decision.

Three myths about why people don’t plan for retirement | The Wall Street Journal

While there has been improvement in many areas of personal finance, one indicator remains stubbornly low: Only 39 percent of respondents to the latest National Financial Capability Study (NFCS) had tried to figure out how much they need to save for retirement (two percentage points more than in 2009), even though 56 percent said they worry about running out of money in retirement. Access to retirement accounts is useful, but it is not enough to ensure robust levels of savings. Understanding myths about retirement planning can help us consider retirement savings more holistically, taking into consideration the many financial decisions that workers face, including how to manage debt.

Here’s how much the average American family has saved for retirement | CNBC

The mean average retirement savings for an American family is $95,776, according to a report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). But because nearly half of families have no retirement account savings at all, while some super savers are pulling up the average, the median savings – those at the 50th percentile – may be a better gauge. The median retirement savings for all families in the U.S. is just $5,000. When families with zero savings are left out of the average, the median for families with some savings is $60,000.

How to prevent forced retirement from ruining your golden years | Time-Money

Involuntary retirement – or the possibility that you may be forced to stop working sooner than you wanted – is a common problem, and one that can wreak significant havoc with your post-career lifestyle. Of retirees polled for the Employee Benefit Research Institute’s 2016 Retirement Confidence Survey, 46 percent said they left their jobs before they had planned, usually because of a health issue or company downsizing or restructuring. Three steps to consider while still working may not completely protect from the risk of retiring earlier than planned, but they can reduce the possible damage.

How to improve your spouse’s chances of a well-funded retirement | Los Angeles Times

Three key decisions about retirement benefits can help couples make their money last – or dramatically increase the chances that the survivor will end up old and broke. How to take retirement benefits, which payout option to choose, and when to claim Social Security are decisions that can protect a mate who outlives a spouse from a big drop in income and lifestyle because of shortsighted decisions about claiming benefits.

How to save for retirement while paying for a child’s college | U.S. News & World Report

Typical investors have two long-term goals: retirement and kids’ college expenses. Ideally, families would estimate how much savings each goal will require and then put aside enough each month to reach both targets on schedule. But that’s tough to do. So which goal should come first? Kids can delay college to work and save, work while in college, go to a cheaper school or live at home, or get college benefits from the military. The biggest issue is that you can borrow for college, but you can’t borrow for retirement.

Why working longer is good for your health | NextAvenue

A small but growing group of scholars is reaching the conclusion that, in many cases, work is good for our health as we age. Healthier, older people can work longer and working longer maintains their health. Data from the U.S. and other industrial nations increasingly shows that most people around age 65 are healthy enough to work (if they can find employers who’ll let them or they work for themselves). What’s more, studies have found that the mental demands of a job can be a force for staving off cognitive decline, an insight summarized by the catchphrase “use it or lose it.”

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