Archive for the 'General Retirement' Category

Texas Tech Partners with NewRetirement.com

Posted on June 12, 2013 by danni

New partnership provides Texas Tech students real-world experience.

Written by Callie Jones

Texas Tech University’s Personal Financial Planning (PFP) department, housed in the College of Human Sciences, has partnered with NewRetirement.com for a unique opportunity that allows PFP students to answer retirement-related questions asked by users of the site.

Students do not give advice pertaining to individual situations, but rather answer questions that require retirement-related knowledge with the help of Eric Sawyer, a Certified Financial Planner® (CFP®) and director of planning for the PFP department.

“Our partnership with NewRetirement is a win for everyone involved, including the public,” Sawyer said. “Since our students’ goals are academic and we are not in a position to be hired by clients or sell financial products, the public is getting the most unbiased answers possible. Students, by definition, will have a heightened sense of responsibility toward someone who they know has posed a question with real consequences as opposed to the fictitious character created within a textbook case study.”

The partnership came about when John Salter, an associate professor in the PFP department, met Steve Chen, the CEO at NewRetirement, during a conference.

“It turned out that we had similar views around the need to deliver holistic retirement guidance in a scalable way to meet the needs of the 75 million baby boomers and 35 million current retirees,” Chen said. “Together we came up with the initiative to have Texas Tech PFP students help answer real-world questions from NewRetirement users.”

Salter said the partnership will strengthen Texas Tech’s presence in the realm of financial planning, as NewRetirement has a strong presence online and in the media. Furthermore, students giving answers are gaining expertise they may not receive elsewhere.

“Our students are excited that we can and do bring opportunities like this to them,” Sawyer said. “They are constantly looking for real-world experience to put into practice what they learn in the classroom.”

Sawyer notes that despite not giving advice like a CFP® is licensed to, students understand that taking the knowledge they learn in the PFP program and applying it to someone’s real financial needs takes an increased level of awareness and caring that they must develop to succeed.

Ultimately, the partnership helps expand the site’s Q&A database, which is optimized for search engines like Google. Texas Tech student responses will be available for larger audiences as the database grows.

“Texas Tech’s PFP program has a national recognition among the financial planning profession in part because of the rigorous and comprehensive approach we take to providing the knowledge and resources students need to succeed,” Sawyer said. “But not only that, we encourage and facilitate collaboration among students, professors and financial service professionals from around the country. Part of being a good financial planner is being aware of the resources that exist and knowing how to access them in order to provide proper guidance to those seeking help.”

 

Comparing Home Equity Loans to Reverse Mortgages

Posted on May 20, 2013 by danni

Home equity loans all but disappeared a few years ago after the financial crisis. However, it appears that home equity lending may be on the rise – with banks approving more of these types of loans.

If you are considering tapping your home equity to fund retirement expenses, then comparing a home equity loan to a Reverse Mortgage may be a good exercise for you.

  • Home Equity Loans: A home equity loan is a loan against the equity you have built into your home and you must pay it back overtime, starting immediately. As such, to qualify you must be able to prove that you are able to make the loan payments.
  • Reverse Mortgages: A Reverse Mortgage is a kind of loan that is not repaid until you leave your home and is often repaid with the sale of the home.

Both loans are great ways for seniors to gain access to their home equity. The costs and interest may be lower for home equity loans, but the available money is often higher and eligibility is easier for Reverse Mortgages.

Estimate Your Reverse Mortgage Loan Amount Now.

Compare Costs of Reverse Mortgages to Home Equity Loans by Talking with a Lender Now.

Learn More About Using a Home Equity Loan.

Are You $250,000 Short on Retirement Savings? You Are Not Alone!

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Editorial Team

According to a new study from Ameriprise Financial, there appears to be a significant disconnect between average retirement goals and reality.

While the study suggests that Americans have a positive view of retirement – with 78 percent of respondents expecting to be extremely happy, it seems that most Americans have a gap of $250,000 between their actual savings and what they will need to be comfortable in retirement.

The good news is that it is possible to manage this gap:  create a strong financial plan, work longer, live more frugally and eliminate credit card debt.  You could also consider a Reverse Mortgage or look for opportunities to downsize your home.

Resources:

–>  Do You Have Enough for Retirement?  Find Out by Using the NewRetirement Calculator.

–> Can Working Longer Help You Make Up the Shortfall?

–> Considering a Reverse Mortgage? Estimate Your Loan Amount Now.

Making Sense of Retirement — 33 Great Movies About Retirement and Aging — Updated List!

Posted on December 3, 2012 by Editorial Team

Movies – like all art forms – can be a great way to explore important themes in your life.

Here is our list of movies related to retirement and aging.

You might be surprised to find some great animated choices to watch with your grandkids!

  • The Artist (2011): Academy award winning movie about early retirement in Hollywood.
  • The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011): A British film about retirees traveling to India.
  • Arthur Christmas (2011): Santa refuses to retire?  Grand Santa comes out of retirement?  A cute holiday movie.
  • Late Bloomers (2011): Adjusting to retirement.
  • Toy Story 3 (2010): You may be surprised to learn that this animated film deals with many retirement themes. In this installment the toys’ boy Andy is now seventeen years old and headed to college. As a result his toys are facing a kind of forced retirement.
  • Red (2010): Retirees save the world.
  • Up (2009): Another animated film?  Yes – a beautiful one at that! A grouchy old man loses his zest for life until a persistent 8 year old enters into his world.
  • Get Low (2009): Robert Duvall as a hermit wants to plan his own funeral.
  • Is There Anybody There? (2008): A family turns their house into a retirement home and copes with their decision.
  • Gran Torino (2008): Acclaimed movie with Clint Eastwood as a retired Korean war vet.
  • The Bucket List (2007): Two terminally ill men try to accomplish everything on their list before they kick the “bucket.”
  • The Notebook (2004): A World War II love story is brought to life through the readings of a man, out of his notebook.
  • The Five People You Meet in Heaven (2004): This touching movie follows an 83 year old retiree through his death and into the tale of five people he meets in the afterlife.
  • Secondhand Lions (2003): A 14 year old boy travels to live with his two eccentric uncles who have a sketchy past and a seemingly endless supply of money.
  • Calendar Girls (2003): A true story based on a group of older women who become international celebrities by taking it all off for charity.
  • Something’s Gotta Give (2003): Love after 50.
  • About Schmidt (2002): A retired insurance salesman’s plans are altered and his life changes forever after the death of his wife and the imminent marriage of his daughter to a man he doesn’t like.
  • Tuesdays with Morrie (1999): An old student visits his retired professor who has fallen ill and learns what is truly important in life.
  • Wrestling Ernest Hemingway (1993): Two retired men become best friends and travel together along a path of new insights into their lives.
  • Grumpy Old Men (1993): The title says it all.  Stars Walter Matheau, Jack Lemmon and Ann Margret.  See also Grumpier Old Men.
  • Unforgiven (1992): Clint Eastwood as a retired gunman.
  • Fried Green Tomatoes (1991): Stories of women gathering strength for themselves through other women.
  • Dad (1989): A son who returns home to care for his sick father learns a new way to see his dad.
  • Cocoon (1985): A swimming pool fountain of youth? These retirees find one!
  • The Trip to Bountiful (1985): An elderly woman yearns to break free from her son’s small home and return to her old life in the town where she was born.
  • On Golden Pond (1981): In this classic, Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn deal with what could possibly be a last birthday spent together.
  • Going in Style (1979): A comedy with George Burns, Art Carney and Lee Strasberg living off Social Security.
  • Harold and Maude (1971): A story of how two complete opposites make their life happy together.
  • The Long Gray Line (1955): A retired army hero greatly influences generations of military leaders.
  • Shane (1953): Alan Ladd as a retired gunfighter.
  • The Quiet Man (1952): Retirement in Ireland in the fifties.
  • High Noon (1952): A man plans for his life as a retired marshal of a small town, but his plans soon change.
  • As Young As You Feel (1951): A comedy about a man who after being forced into retirement, pretends to be the president of his parent company.
  • It’s A Wonderful Life (1946): A truly wonderful classic that follows a down and out George Bailey through the “what if’s” of life.

What is your favorite retirement movie?  Add to the list in comments!

 

Your HEALTH that May Be the Key to Your Retirement Security!

Posted on November 9, 2012 by Editorial Team

A 2010 study by economists James Poterba, Steven Venti and David Wise tracked the retirements of older Americans and health differences emerged at a significant determinant of retirement success.

The study, titled “The Asset Cost of Poor Health,” found that poor health was a common attribute of people who died with little wealth.  While many of these households had adequate income in their 50s and 60s, that same income was too low to handle health expenses as they aged.

Additional findings include:

  • Around 46 percent of persons die with virtually no financial assets.
  • Those in poorer health may retire earlier and/or work fewer hours than their healthier counterparts – giving them a smaller pool of assets when they retire.
  • Those with the smallest pool of assets died the earliest.

It appears that taking care of your health can have striking financial benefits – in addition to an improved quality of life.

However, whether you are in “peak physical condition” or not, there are additional safeguards you can take to improve your retirement finances – optimize your Social Security payments, look at home equity as a way to bridge income and expenses, purchase the best supplemental health insurance and consider ways to fund long term care.

RESOURCES

The Best Senior Dating Sites Online –Dating Networks Grow in Popularity for Boomers and Other Retirement Age Americans

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Editorial Team

Find Your Dance Partner

While we at NewRetirement are mostly focused on the financial aspects of growing older, a successful retirement generally means overall fulfillment and dating is an increasingly popular activity among older Americans.

With extra leisure time, it is no wonder that seniors – many of whom have lost or divorced spouses – are looking to spend time with someone special.  And experts agree that dating is a great anti-aging activity.  Staying social and connected is an important aspect of maintaining mental and physical fitness.

So, here where to find appropriate dates?  Below you will find out guide to senior dating online.

 

The Most Popular Online Dating Sites

The most popular online dating sites can absolutely be used by anyone – no matter your age.  My own 80 plus year old grandfather found lovely companions on these sites.

While the features and functions of these sites vary, you can search and sort to find the right match.  You might want to find other people who are retired or of a certain age.  Also, be sure to make it very clear in your own profile who you genuinely are and what you are looking for.

 

Want to Be More Specific?

Here are the Most Popular Online Dating Sites for Seniors

Perhaps you would be more comfortable entering the online world of dating with sites designed exclusively for people of your own age range.

Here are some matchmaking sites for people 50 and over:

  • Senior Match: Senior Match says that it is the largest dating site for baby boomers and seniors.  They focus on users over 50 years of age.   They even have a live senior counselor – maybe something like a dating advice column?         http://www.seniormatch.com

 

  • OurTime: I think that “OurTime” is a romantic notion — a good name for a senior matchmaking site.  Retirement could be a great time to focus on a relationship – without the pressures of career and family.  OurTime is also focused on users 50 plus and is part of a community of web sites that includes: SeniorPeopleMeet.com and SeniorsMeet.com.          http://www.ourtime.com

 

  • RetiredSingles: This site is actually for people ages 45-100.  They say that they  have “more pratical” matching criteria than most sites.  They also offer some interesting communication features like blogs and instant messaging.                   http://www.retiredsingles.com/

 

  • SeniorFriendFinder: This site focuses on people 60 and over.  They have quite a few “success stories” on their home page and seem to feature photographs of their users more than other sites.                    http://www.SeniorFriendFinder.com

 

 

Just Don’t Forget Your Retirement Financial Planning!

We hope the above resources help you find friends or love or both in your golden years.  However, don’t forget that you need to be able to afford retirement – alone or as a couple.

Use NewRetirement to help you evolve your retirement plans.

RESOURCES:

Funny and Inspirational Quotes About Aging and Retirement

Posted on October 30, 2012 by Editorial Team

These witty, provocative and often ironic quotes on aging largely indicate that aging is more of an attitude than a number.

And there may be scientific evidence to support that!  Victoria Moran, author of “Younger by the Day: 365 Ways to Rejuvenate Your Body and Revitalize Your Spirit,” quotes a twenty-three-year-long study in Ohio that determined that people who saw growing older as something positive lived a whopping seven and a half years longer than those who didn’t.

 

Here Are a Few Words of Wisdom About Aging and Retirement

  • “Aging seems to be the only available way to live a long life.”  — Kitty O’Neill Collins
  • “Something pretty… that’s just the surface. People worry so much about aging, but you look younger if you don’t worry about it.”  — Jeanne Moreau
  • “The afternoon knows what the morning never suspected.” ― Robert Frost
  • “It’s paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn’t appeal to anyone.” ― Andy Rooney
  • “There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.” ― Sophia Loren
  • “You don’t stop laughing when you grow old, you grow old when you stop laughing.” ― George Bernard Shaw
  • “The really frightening thing about middle age is that you know you’ll grow out of it.” ― Doris Day
  • “but one loses, as one grows older, something of the lightness of one’s dreams; one begins to take life up in both hands, and to care more for the fruit than the flower, and that is no great loss perhaps.” ― W.B. Yeats
  • “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you was?” — Satchel Paige
  • “Those who think they have no time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness.” — Edward Stanley
  • “At age 20, we worry about what others think of us. At age 40, we don’t care what they think of us. At age 60, we discover they haven’t been thinking of us at all.” — Ann Landers

 

More quotes on aging and retirement can be found here:

 

New Resource for Optimizing Your 401k!

Posted on August 14, 2012 by Rohith

Most employers have probably given you a list of possible investments, but no advice on which ones are best for you and your retirement.  If you are frustrated by this approach, you may want to consider a service that can give you recommendations designed to optimize your investment returns while minimizing risks.

Smart401k is an easy to use solution to help you make the right investment decisions.  For a flat yearly fee they will tell you exactly how to invest your money now and help you rebalance your portfolio over time.

How Smart401k works:

1. Enroll online and pay a $199.95 yearly fee

2. Tell Smart401k about you and the investment options offered by your employer.

3. Receive an investment plan within a few days

4. Get periodic updates from Smart401k on how to shift or rebalance your account

RESOURCES:

 

 

Retirement? Not for these Olympians!

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Rohith

If you think you are too old for sports, think again!  There are a handful of inspiring individuals competing and even winning medals this Summer in London — Olympians who are in their 50s, 60s and 70s!!!

  • The oldest competitor in the 2012 Olympics is 71 year old Japanese equestrian Hiroshi Hoketsu. He is competing in dressage.
  • American Butch Johnson has competed in six Olympics. He is now 57 and will try to win a medal this year in archery.
  • Kiwi Mark Todd won a bronze medal this week in an equestrian event at the age of 56.
  • Ian Millar has competed in a record number of 10 Olympics! He is part of the Canadian equestrian team in London this year at the age of 65.
  • Oscar Swahn was the oldest Olympian ever.  He earned a silver medal at the age of 72 in a shooting competition at the Antwerp Games in 1920.

If shooting or horses are not your sport, maybe you’d like to try for a spot in the Senior Games – an Olympic like competition for people over 50.  There are numerous stories of people starting a new sport in their 50s and 60s and then thriving in competition!

 

RESOURCES:

 

 

The Decline of Stocks and Bonds

Posted on August 8, 2012 by Rohith

Pimco’s CEO, Bill Gross, claims that stock investors should think twice before applying the well established investing maxim of buying and holding into practice, “the cult of equity is dying”.

According to an article on The Wall Street Journal, Gross points out stocks have averaged a 6.6% annual gain on an inflation-adjusted scale for the past century. However, he believes that this rate of return is unlikely to be duplicated anytime soon due to a downward spiriling economy around the globe and goes on to say that the 6.6% return will not ever be duplicated without productivity and innovation that resembles that of Apple. In fact, the U.S. second-quarter GDP grew at a meager 1.5% rate, well below historical standards.

In addition to criticizing stock’s dismal return returns, Gross also chastises bonds, “What you see is what you get more often than not in the bond market, so momentum-following investors are bound to be disappointed if they look to the bond market’s past 30-year history for future salvation, instead of mere survival at the current level of interest rates.”

With lower expected returns for stocks and bonds, the average American is the big loser in this new investing environment. Investors seeking a cure that will solve the world’s problems shouldn’t hold their breath as policy makers in the past have tried to “inflate their way out of the corner.” However, people speculate that the Fed will commence on another bond buying program in order to stimulate the economy.

Bottom line for America: Cut your spending, up your savings, and reset the retirement planning tool ‘rate of return’ to about 1% a year.

Resources:

Use our free Newretirement Retirement Calculator to plan for a safer retirement

——–>  https://www.newretirement.com/retirement-calculator/default.aspx

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