Home Equity & Senior Housing
Bob Carlson’s ideas and strategies for managing home equity and choice of housing to maintain a budget
Found 129 Articles.
Get access to our full article archive by subscribing to Retirement Watch and Retirement Watch Spotlight Series.
How to Avoid the Key Retirement Housing Mistakes
Retirement patterns in the U.S. are changing. That’s because many are finding that the traditional move to warmer climes isn’t for them. The “boomerang” or the “bounce-back” is becoming common for those who move to Florida or Arizona. Retirees have many more location options than they used to. Retiree-oriented developments are being built all over, […]
Hot New Retirement Locations
Older Americans might be becoming “half backs” instead of “snowbirds.” A snowbird, as you probably know, is someone who lives most of the year in a cold weather area but spends a few winter months in a warm weather state. Usually the retiree treks from a midwest or northeastern state to Florida. But many older […]
Should you buy or rent your winter home?
Winter is coming, and the thoughts of many retirees turn to warmer climates. The next thought for those who plan to spend part of the year at a second home is whether it makes sense to buy or rent that refuge. Not many years ago that was an easy decision. Real estate almost always appreciated […]
Tips on Getting The Right New Mortgage
Mortgage interest rates are tumbling, spurring many people to buy homes or refinance current mortgages. When shopping for a mortgage, one of the first decisions is whether to choose a fixed rate or adjustable rate mortgage (ARM), sometimes known as a variable rate mortgage. Often there is a meaningful difference, or spread, between interest rates […]
SUBSCRIBE TO RETIREMENT WATCH
What you don’t know about retirement can hurt you. In fact, just a few wrong decisions in your investments, taxes, or estate planning could completely derail your retirement plans. Worse yet, the rules of the game keep changing, making it harder to keep up. For these reasons, I’ve assembled all the key points – everything you need to know — into one comprehensive report. Click here today for free access.
New Retirement Living Choices
Traditional retirement living and housing choices are on the way out. The new generation of retirees is looking for new living experiences. Developers are obliging, giving older Americans more choices for living arrangements than ever. These new choices involve more than locating outside the traditional retirement havens of Florida and Arizona, as I discussed last […]
The Truth About Retiring Overseas
We’ve all heard and imagined the fantasies of living at least part of our retirement years overseas. You probably read articles and mail promotions describing overseas “retirement edens” and describing how you can live like a king on a couple thousand dollars a month. And of course, there are those fabulous tax breaks. It all […]
Medicaid Nursing Home Strategies
Many of you have seen those seminars or publications on shifting assets to qualify for Medicaid’s nursing home coverage. I know, because you send me questions about them. Here is a guide to those strategies and the angles you need to consider before pursuing them. Medicare, the program to assist seniors with health care, covers […]
How to Use Your House to Increase Wealth
Many of you have achieved that ultimate financial goal of owning a home debt-free. As comforting as that is, it might not be the best financial move. Home equity can be a low risk way to increase your after-tax wealth, especially in this era of low cost, low interest rate, easy-to-get home equity loans. I’ve […]
