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Walk in the Sand

If you're in Florida there's no better thing to do at the end of the day than take a walk on the beach. Last night I came across a pretty impressive sand castle. It was part of a whole royal complex . . . Here's the entrance to the palace . . . But nothing lasts forever . . . You can already see from the shadows that it's getting toward sunset. Here's the view out into the Gulf of Mexico . . . And a few minutes later . . . Good night to all, and to all a good night.
Posted by Tom Sightings at 12:58 PM 16 comments: Links to this post 

Changing the Conversation

From my perspective, there was at least one good thing about the inauguration: For whatever reason it left the Washington Beltway relatively free of traffic. I breezed through DC on Friday in record time . . . meaning, I was not held up by even one backup.

So here I am in Florida, joining the mass migration of Snowbirds leaving behind the sleet and snow of the North, in search of sun and sand in the South.

I must admit, I can't afford a five-star hotel, so I am residing for the week in a 1970s-era bungalow, complete with popcorn ceiling, linoleum floors and pockmarked aluminum doors and windows. However, this modest little complex is right on the beach, as you can see by this view of the seaside units. However, I booked my trip relatively late, and can't afford those pricier accommodations anyway, so instead of a view of the water, this is what I see out the back door through my patio. Still, I can feel the salty breezes from the Gulf of Mexico, and I'm only 20 yards from the beach. So the first thing I did this morning was take a walk along the shoreline. It sure beats slipping and sliding along the frozen sidewalks of Connecticut. Several people have told me they don't think they'll be watching the TV news for the next four years. Honestly, I haven't watched much for the last year, since it got so ugly, from both sides. I don't think we should all opt out of public life just because we don't like what's going on. We should all stand up for what we believe in, and do the things that we think are important -- I'm still scheduled to tutor at my community college when I get back home in March -- and hopefully still act with some respect and civility toward those who don't agree with us.

But for now, at least, I will ignore the real world, and just soak up the sun.

Posted by Tom Sightings at 11:05 AM 20 comments: Links to this post 



This morning I left home to go to Florida. I'm driving because I will be away for over six weeks . . . and I need a car.

On the way today I listened on NPR to the Senate confirmation hearings for Steve Mnuchin, who is nominated for Secretary of the Treasury. I thought he gave an impressive opening statement. He obviously has a good resume -- Yale University, Goldman Sachs, his own successful investment business -- and he defended himself quite convincingly against charges that he had unfairly profited from foreclosing homes during and after the Great Recession. However, when it came to questions from the Senators he was not nearly so persuasive. He dodged questions, gave self-serving answers, and tried to obfuscate whenever someone presented him with uncomfortable numbers or facts. After a while you could tell when he was about to complicate his response to hide any potential wrongdoing because he'd start out by saying, "I want to be perfectly clear about this . . . ."

I don't know how long the hearings went for. I listened to, probably, two hours. Then I'd had enough.

Tomorrow is inauguration day. I am a Democrat, but no socialist, no super leftist from the Sanders/Warren wing of the party. But still, I find it hard to believe that, starting tomorrow, Donald Trump will be president of the United States. How did that happen, anyway?

In the morning I will be driving through Washington, DC -- or more accurately around Washington, DC, on the Beltway, then heading south on I95. I sure hope there isn't too much traffic, clogging the roads and delaying me for hours.

And I sure hope that, over the next six weeks while I'm away, Donald Trump and his band of merry pranksters don't get us into a heap of trouble with China, or Russia, or Europe. Or crater the economy, foment social unrest, or do anything else that will upend the plans of those of us who are retired, or the lives of our kids who have hopes for the future.

Posted by Tom Sightings at 9:04 PM 13 comments: Links to this post 


Free Money, or Social Engineering? 

Posted by Tom Sightings at 9:11 AM 18 comments: Links to this post 


The Costs and Benefits of Downsizing

Anyone who has even a passing acquaintance with this blog knows that I am interested in downsizing -- primarily because I'm smack dab in the middle of the process myself. We sold our house last summer, and we're living in a one-bedroom condominium for the time being while we look for our more permanent retirement home.

I recently ran across this article from my friend Jeremy Kisner, who writes a blog for Surevest Wealth Management in Phoenix, Arizona. It was listed as one of his "best" articles of 2016. I've made a few minor changes for space and format, but the message remains the same:

Many Baby Boomers will downsize their current residence at some point during retirement. People downsize for a lot of reasons: they retire, get divorced, want to save money, or just get tired of maintaining a big house and/or yard. Research shows that most people prefer single-family, one-story, low maintenance homes, and most (69%) still want a yard or a garden.

Few things will have a bigger impact on your lifestyle or your financial plan than where you live. Housing is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) expense for most households, including retirees who do not have a mortgage.

Let’s take a look at the math behind downsizing. Suppose you sell a house that you own free and clear for $800,000 and buy one costing $400,000. We will assume that the sales commissions, moving expenses, and fixing up the new house add up to roughly 10% of your selling price ($80k). That leaves $320,000 after the purchase of the new residence that can be added to your savings.

That $320,000 could enable a retiree to withdraw an extra $12,000 from savings (inflation adjusted) every year. On top of that, the retiree would likely have lower household expenses (maintenance, utilities, insurance, etc.), which could easily be an additional $6,000 a year. That’s $18,000 a year in extra available funds. You can estimate for yourself the potential saving a change in residence may have for you. Check out this super cool: Downsizing Savings Calculator.

One more piece of the puzzle: Last year, in the article Relocating in Retirement, we pointed out that 40% of people who plan to relocate (and possibly downsize in the process) will move to a different state. You should consider how such a move will affect your taxes. Naturally, federal income tax rates are the same no matter where you live. However, state income tax, property taxes, and even sales taxes vary considerably. I know that analyzing tax jurisdictions is not most people’s idea of a fun date-night activity. However, if our hypothetical downsizing from the $800k house to the $400k house involved a move from Nevada to New York (just as an example), all of the forecasted additional income ($18,000 per year) could be eaten up by higher taxes (all of which are higher in NY than NV).

For your convenience, we made the research easy with the maps and resources below:

State Income Tax: See breakdown of State Income Tax rates (pgs. 4 - 7). Property Taxes: The map below shows the average amount of residential property tax actually paid, expressed as a percentage of home value. Sales Taxes: In addition to state-level sales taxes, 38 states have local-level sales taxes. These rates can be substantial, so a state with a moderate statewide sales tax rate could actually have a very high combined state and local rate compared to other states. The map below provides a population-weighted average of state and local sales taxes. Interestingly, several of our clients who have downsized their residences have commented that they wish they would have done it even sooner.

Sorry if it's hard to read those state tax numbers -- I could only make them so big -- but you get the idea, the darker the color the higher the tax. Anyway, I don't know what your experience has been in downsizing (and I also know some people have "upsized" in the sense that they've purchased a second home in the Sunbelt for their winter activities -- but that's a different issue.) But I for one have no regrets selling off the old house, with its high taxes, high maintenance and extensive lawn care.

Now, if we could just make up our minds about where we want to go from here . . .

Posted by Tom Sightings at 11:23 AM 27 comments: Links to this post 


Looking Back, Looking Ahead 

Posted by Tom Sightings at 10:59 AM 10 comments: Links to this post 


Answers to: Are These Baby Boomer Icons Dead or Alive? 

Posted by Tom Sightings at 8:38 AM 7 comments: Links to this post 


Are These Baby Boomer Icons Dead or Alive? 

1)  1996 presidential candidate Bob Dole                          Alive  or   Dead

2)  Notorious Washington DC mayor Marion Barry            Alive       Dead

3)  Singer Dion DiMucci                                                     Alive       Dead

4)  Actress Annette Funicello                                              Alive       Dead


6)  Actor Kirk Douglas                                                         Alive     Dead

7)  Roots author Alex Haley                                                Alive     Dead 8)  Actress Julie Andrews         Alive     Dead

9)  Activist Rosa Parks             Alive     Dead

10) TV host Dick Cavett            Alive     Dead

11) Singer Diana Ross               Alive     Dead

12) Psychologist Joyce Brothers                                          Alive     Dead

13) Basketball player and politician Bill Bradley                   Alive     Dead

14) 1988 Presidential candidate Michael Dukakis                Alive     Dead

15) Olympic figure skater Dorothy Hamill                             Alive     Dead Labels: Quiz, Tempus Fugit
