Best Cities for Retirement

 50 Places in the US where retirement is affordable, healthcare is excellent and life is good!

• Retirement is something to think about years before you get there.
• Choosing the best place to retire in the US means weighing affordability, quality of life, activities, and healthcare.
• WalletHub ranked the best US cities to live in retirement.
• Many of the top cities are in states with warm weather, such as Florida and Arizona.

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Deciding where to live in retirement may be one of the last major financial decisions you'll make, and picking the right spot is important.

WalletHub set out to put worried minds at ease. The site used available data for the 150 largest US cities to find the best and worst places to lay your hat. We already looked at the worst cities for retirement, so let's take a look at the opposite: the best urban areas to live in your post-working life.

How people spend time when they don't have to go to the office every day tends to be a little different. Many dream of hours full of painting and golf, but there are more practical considerations to keep in mind too.

Along with the weather and nearby museums and tennis courts, reliable, accessible healthcare and affordable housing are important benchmarks when determining where to live in retirement.

WalletHub found that the cities below offered a great quality of life, good healthcare, and plentiful activities — all at an affordable cost.

WalletHub scored each city based on affordability, activities, quality of life, and healthcare. The four categories were weighted equally, and each city was given a total score and then ranked, with the highest overall score designating the best city. WalletHub used data for only the city, not the surrounding metro area.

Florida is considered one of the best states for retirement, so it is no surprise that several Sunshine State cities — including the top three — found their way onto this list.

Other warm-weather locations are also well represented on the list; the five cities with the highest percentage of senior citizens are in Arizona, Florida, and Hawaii.

Keep reading to see the best places to retire in the US, according to WalletHub. We've included the total score for each city (out of a possible 100), with a higher score denoting a better place to live, as well as its ranking out of 150 cities for each of the four categories, with a lower number being better.

50. Chandler, Arizona

49. Washington, D.C.

48. Nashville, Tennessee

47. Columbus, Ohio

46. Charlotte, North Carolina

45. Lincoln, Nebraska

44. Virginia Beach, Virginia

43. Phoenix, Arizona

42. Birmingham, Alabama

41. Henderson, Nevada

40. Dallas, Texas

39. Portland, Oregon

38. San Antonio, Texas

37. San Diego, California

36. Pembroke Pines, Florida

35. Tallahassee, Florida

34. Overland Park, Kansas

33. Tempe, Arizona

32. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

31. Baton Rouge, Louisiana

30. St. Louis, Missouri

29. Reno, Nevada

28. Seattle, Washington

27. Richmond, Virginia

26. Tucson, Arizona

25. Colorado Springs, Colorado

24. Boise, Idaho

23. Los Angeles, California

22. Sioux Falls, South Dakota

21. San Francisco, California

20. Cincinnati, Ohio

19. Raleigh, North Carolina

18. Port St. Lucie, Florida

17. St. Petersburg, Florida

16. Madison, Wisconsin

15. Fort Lauderdale, Florida

14. Minneapolis, Minnesota

13. Cape Coral, Florida

12. New Orleans, Louisiana

11. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

10. Las Vegas, Nevada

9.  Austin, Texas

8.  Denver, Colorado

7.  Honolulu, Hawaii

6.  Salt Lake City, Utah

5.  Atlanta, Georgia

4.  Scottsdale, Arizona

3.  Miami, Florida

2.  Tampa, Florida
1.  Orlando, Florida

http://www.businessinsider.com/retirement-best-cities-us-ranked-2018-2?utm_content=buffer6aaa7#2-tampa-florida-49

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Should You Help Your Child With A Down Payment For A House?

SHOULD YOU HELP YOUR ADULT CHILD WITH A DOWN PAYMENT FOR A HOUSE?

Here are a list of guidelines you can follow.

Author: Tanisha A. Sykes, Special to USA TODAY

Published: 03/13/18

More than one-third of Millennials looking to purchase their first home say they plan to rely on a loan or a gift from a relative to cover a key portion of their down payment, according to a recent survey.
And even if your own kids haven't yet asked for a hand, many of them might be considering it. The "Modern Homebuyer" survey from ValueInsured, a company that sells insurance to consumers that pays back their down payments if the value of their home falls, indicates that nearly 60% of Millennials looking to buy their first home aren't confident they can afford to do so.

So if your adult children could use some help buying their new digs, should you reach into your savings — retirement or otherwise — to help them out? The answer, as usual, when it comes to issues of personal finance — is, well, personal. But here are some guidelines you can follow:

When It’s a Bad Idea...

If you are a middle-income earner. “A middle income earner, despite their best intentions, should not support their child’s purchase of a home if it means sacrificing contributions to their retirement,” says Jacob I. Milder, CFP, at Oak Street Investments in Denver. If opportunities still exist to contribute to a 401(k), 403(b), or IRA, loaning money would mean decrease these contributions, he says.

If you have to use your nest egg. Interest rates on 401(k) loans can be very appealing, but some experts say not so fast. “Many 401(k) plans will not let you continue to contribute money until you have repaid the full amount borrowed,” says debt resolution attorney Leslie Tayne.

If you are nearing retirement. “Parents who invest their money instead of giving it to the children could potentially leverage another 10 to 15 years of compounding interest and market returns,” says James Nichols, Head of Advice and Retirement Income Strategy for Voya Financial Retirement Solutions in Windsor, Connecticut.

When It’s a Good Idea...

If it’s a good investment. If you plan to lend the money instead of gifting it, you may reap some financial benefits. “Many of my clients feel that bonds will likely return very little if any returns for the next decade,” says T. Eric Reich, CFP and President of Reich Asset Management in Marmora, N.J. “You can lend money at a cheaper rate than banks and possibly get a greater return than you could expect in a fixed-income portfolio for the foreseeable future.”

If your child has a steady source of income. Make sure your child can afford all of the responsibilities of owning a home. “For instance, if your child has just completed graduate school or is already employed in a position that has a strong earnings trajectory, then consider a loan with an agreed upon timetable for repayment,” says Milder.

John Reinmuth, 74, a retired pastor from Gig Harbor, Washington, and his late wife Jan, a former elementary school teacher who died in 2013, decided to help their son who works in theater set construction and their daughter-in-law who works in a college admissions office with a the purchase of a house. The Reinmuths matched what the young couple could accumulate with a gift of $8,000, helping them to buy a starter home with a 10% down payment.

And In 2011, the Reinmuths gave a daughter and son-in-law $12.000 toward a down payment. Added to their savings, the couple made a 20% down payment, eliminating the need for private mortgage insurance and got a better interest rate, Reinmuth says.

“Working with a certified financial professional, we learned that our pensions, Social Security, and IRAs provided a 98% likelihood that our retirement resources would not run out before we died,” Reinmuth says. “Thus, we felt comfortable helping our son and daughter-in-law to purchase a house."

Will You Outlive Your Retirement Savings?

Your nest egg needs to sustain you throughout retirement.  Here's how to make sure it does! 

Of the various things today's older workers might fear — losing their jobs, needing to quit due to health issues, and so forth — there's perhaps no prospect more terrifying than the notion of outliving their savings. In fact, 60% of Baby Boomers claim they're more worried about running out of money in retirement than actually dying.

Sadly, it's a valid concern, especially since countless older Americans are also considerably behind on savings. The Economic Policy Institute reports that the median savings balance among workers ages 56 to 61 is a mere $17,000 — hardly enough to live off even with Social Security factored into the mix.

If you're concerned about outliving your savings, then you'll need to be proactive in avoiding that fate. And there are steps you can take to improve your long-term financial picture. First, however, you'll need to assess your personal risk, which you can do by asking yourself the following questions:  

1. Have I been saving 15% or more of my income?

It used to be the case that to retire comfortably, you'd need to set aside 10% of your earnings over time. Not anymore. Given the way health care and other costs have inflated in recent years, you'll need to do better if you want enough money to cover the bills for the long haul. That's why workers today really need to set aside 15% or more of their income for the future.

If you've been saving at that level, or somewhere in the vicinity, then you're probably in pretty good shape. Similarly, if you haven't been saving that much, but are still relatively young with many working years ahead of you, there's a good chance you'll come out just fine if you ramp up immediately. But if you're already in your mid- to late 50s and haven't been hitting that threshold, there's a strong chance you'll run out of money at some point if you don't take steps to compensate.

How do you do that? It's simple: Work longer, and max out your savings for as many years as you can. If your original goal was to retire at 65 and you push yourself to work until 70, all the while maxing out your 401(k) during that five-year period, you'll have an extra $122,500 to play with in retirement — and that assumes zero investment growth. Not only will extending your career offer you an opportunity to save more, but it'll also help you avoid dipping into your existing savings for however many years you remain on the job.

Another option: Continue working in retirement, albeit on a part-time basis. You can approach your long-term employer about a partial retirement, or pursue something new if you can't bear to keep plugging away at your current job any longer. The key is to generate enough income to avoid depleting your nest egg prematurely.

2. How much of my savings do I plan to withdraw each year?

The key to stretching your nest egg is knowing how much of it you can afford to withdraw annually during retirement. For years, experts have lauded the 4% rule as a solid withdrawal strategy, since the rule is designed to make your savings last for up to 30 years — but unless you fit very specific criteria, withdrawing that much of your savings each year could cause you to deplete your reserves sooner than expected.

The problem with the 4% rule is that it makes certain assumptions about your portfolio and its growth potential. One is that you still have more than half of your assets in stocks, and that your bonds generate a respectable level of income. But what if you unloaded most of your stocks in an effort to lower your risk? Suddenly, that formula is thrown way off. Similarly, bonds today pay considerably less than they did back when the rule was established. So today's retirees need to adjust their withdrawal strategies accordingly.

What should you do? Use the 4% rule as a starting point, but develop a withdrawal plan that better aligns with your circumstances. For example, if you're heavily invested in bonds, and they aren't paying much interest, start out by withdrawing 2% of your nest egg rather than 4%. Being conservative with your withdrawals will help sustain your nest egg, so it's there for you throughout retirement.

3. Am I underestimating my life expectancy?

Many seniors plan for something in the ballpark of a 20-year retirement, but for some folks, that's a dangerously low estimate. That's because one out of every four 65-year-olds today will live past the age of 90, while one in 10 will live past 95. If you're one of them, yet you retire in your mid-60s, you could easily end up in a situation where you run out of money with several years of retirement left ahead of you.

A better bet? Assess your health, and if it's relatively strong, assume the best when it comes to your lifespan. If you operate under the assumption that you'll live until 90 and pass away at 88, you'll have a little something left over to leave to your heirs. And that's a much more ideal scenario than spending down your savings and burdening your family with your bills in your late 80s — assuming you even have that option, which many seniors don't.

If there's one risk you can't afford to take as a senior, it's outliving your savings and scrambling in your old age. So don't put yourself in that situation. Assess your personal risk early on, and take steps to compensate. Otherwise, you could end up falling victim to the fate that's so many retirees' worst nightmare.

More:Personal debt: Are Americans responsible with their paychecks?

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More:How much will average Baby Boomer get from Social Security over lifetime?

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