It’s July 21, 2020, and the COVID-19 pandemic has been raging for at least four months now. I hope you are doing well and staying safe and sane, to the greatest extent possible. Aside from the immediate impacts of the pandemic, many other aspects of your life have been upended and changed in one way…
Read more
The most popular article on RetireFabulously.com has been the mega-list of 100 Things You Can Do After You Retire. After all, there’s no reason to be bored after you retire. Unfortunately, during the COVID-19 pandemic, some of those activities aren’t feasible because they involve interacting with groups of people in potentially unsafe situations. But don’t…
Read more
There are many factors that compete for your attention when it comes to deciding where you want to retire. You probably consider the climate, recreational amenities, cost of living, safety, and tax rates. Being close to your family and friends may be the most important factor for you. Even if you’re pretty sure you want…
Read more
[This article is an excerpt from my book, The Quest for Retirement Utopia: How to Find the Retirement Spot That’s Right for You.] When you start thinking seriously about where you want to retire, there are dozens of factors you can consider. The number of criteria that your ideal retirement destination should ideally meet can…
Read more
A lot of people, both retirees and those who are still working, enjoy vacationing on cruise ships. I have taken ten cruises that have carried me to Europe (five times), the southern Caribbean, Alaska, Hawaii, Tahiti, South America, and New Zealand/Australia. I have enjoyed them all immensely, especially the last three. Occasionally, a meme appears…
Read more
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you choose? For now, assume that cost is not a factor and you could afford to live wherever you want. Hopefully you have at least one place in mind, and maybe several. Now for the bigger question: Why? What characteristics of the place(s) you thought…
Read more
When I turned 62, I celebrated by filing the paperwork to start receiving my Social Security benefits. This goes against the advice offered by the vast majority of professional advisers. Almost universally, financial advisers recommend delaying your benefits for as long as you can. Yet I have analyzed the numbers and pondered the non-financial aspects…
Read more
Regardless of whether or not you embrace the practice of making new year’s resolutions, the start of each new year presents an opportunity to reflect upon what went well and not so well during the past year. Of course, any time is a good time to assess your life in its current state and make…
Read more
What is your definition of a successful retirement? Obviously, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. Nor is there a right or wrong answer, although you could say that the best answer is a thought-out, well-defined answer that’s right for you, and the worst answer is no answer at all. Trying to define a successful retirement is…
Read more
Your Retirement Has Changed – Perhaps For the Better
A couple weeks ago (mid-May, 2020), I was contacted by a writer for MarketWatch who was working on an article about “retiree resentment.” He was seeking input from experts on how retirees can reframe their resentment in a positive, proactive way. In order to give him the best information I could, I asked Retire Fabulously!…
Read more