State Farm Wants to Quit Florida

State Farm, Florida’s largest private insurer, wants to quit the market for homeowners’ insurance.  In a plan announced Tuesday, State Farm proposes to exit the market within two years.

State Farm claims that they can no longer operate in the Florida home market profitably.  The state’s Office of Insurance Regulation has refused State Farm’s last request for a 47% average rate increase.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist was quite stern in his reply to the announcement:

“They probably charged about the highest rates in the state anyway,”
Crist said. “I think that Floridians will be much better off without
them.”

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Time to Retire? … or Just Rethink

Baby Boomers are often referred to as “the lump in the snake” when describing their effect on the economy. And right now, that lump is nearing retirement, taking with it an enormous amount of experience, wisdom and time-tested street smarts. “Companies could lose everyone who remembers how they handled the last economic downturn,” said Alison Sander, in a recent New York Times feature on retirement.

On the other side of the issue, boomers approaching retirement age may not be prepared, mentally or physically, to simply walk off the job and into retirement. Between the declining value of the dollar and unstable economy, the expense of individual health insurance and lengthening life spans, many potential retirees find themselves at retirement age unready, unwilling or unable to quit.

If you’re facing this dilemma, what are your options? What things do you need to consider?

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Watch Out for Those Scams!

Unfortunately, scams will always be with us.  As the recent Madoff scandal has proven, even old, well known scams like the Ponzi scheme are still around in one shape or another.  Because of the relative wealth of our current boomers and seniors, we are prime targets of today’s con artists.

Because we’re prime targets, we need to be even more vigilant.

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Ole! Seniors Choosing Assisted Living in Mexico

As millions of baby boomers reach retirement age and U.S. health care costs soar, Mexican nursing home managers expect more American seniors to head south in coming years.

Mexico’s proximity to the USA, low labor costs and warm climate make it attractive, although residents caution that quality of care varies greatly in an industry that is just getting off the ground there.

Here’s more:

After Jean Douglas turned 70, she realized she couldn’t take care of herself anymore. Her knees were giving out, and winters in Bandon, Oregon, were getting harder to

bear alone. Douglas was shocked by the high cost and impersonal care at assisted living facilities near her home. After searching the Internet for other options, she joined a small but steadily growing number of Americans who are moving across the border to nursing homes in Mexico, where the sun is bright and the living is cheap.

For $1,300 a month–a quarter of what an average nursing home costs in Oregon–Douglas gets a studio apartment, three meals a day, laundry and cleaning service, and 24-hour care from an attentive staff, many of whom speak English. She wakes up every morning next to a glimmering mountain lake, and the average annual high temperature is a toasty 79 degrees. “It is paradise,” says Douglas, 74. “If you need help living or coping, this is the place to be. I don’t know that there is such a thing back (in the USA), and certainly not for this amount of money.”

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Traveling Seniors Get Great Discounts

Seniors and baby-boomers are  unique compared to their predecessors of less than ten years ago.  They are more affluent and in many cases as healthy and strong as they were in their 30’s. They are  able and more willing to do things they could not do in their young adult lives or while raising a family. One of those things is traveling.  They travel to many places that are a far reach from their reality. They travel  to places that are the source of their being. The destinations are limitless. Some seniors and baby-boomers prefer the convenience of travel agencies.
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Baby Boomers and Retirement!

In a recent press release on “The New Retirement Survey”- James P. Gorman, president of Merrill Lynch Global Private Client Group relayed a couple of interesting finding on baby boomers and their impending retirement.

Mr. Gordon said, “Baby boomers fundamentally will reinvent retirement. With boomers living longer and remaining engaged and employed beyond age 65, many of the traditional financial assumptions regarding retirement need to be re-examined”.

Interesting points that emerged from the survey were:
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Wait! It’s Probably Worth It

Are you nearing that magic age of 62?  Are you one of the 50% planning on filing for Social Security as soon as you’re eligible?  If so, you may want to wait.  It’s probably worth it.

Taking your benefits at age 62 will cost you 25% of the benefit you would receive at age 66.  Let’s assume that you would be eligible for $1,000 per month when you reach 66.  By applying for your benefits at 62, you’ll only receive $750 per month.  If you’re like many of us, that extra $250 a month could come in handy. Read more

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