You Have Alternatives to Big Banks and their Fees

After more than two decades as customers, Mrs. P and I dropped Bank of America completely – including mortgages – in 2010. Even if we hadn’t changed then, BOA’s announcement that it will begin charging a monthly fee for using a debit card would have caused me to dump them now. Citi is moving in the same direction with more fees and all of the other big banks are sure to follow.

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Boomers Trapped by Mortgages

The news continues to be bad about folks who are close to retirement age and their debts. It seems that some boomers are just slow to understand that the more they borrow now, the longer they will have to work to pay it off, if they can keep working. I don’t get it. Maybe some of you can explain it to me, after considering the recent statistics.

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Reverse Mortgage Risks and Benefits in a Nutshell

Much continues to be written about the use of reverse mortgages as a source of retirement income. Also, reverse mortgage products are aggressively promoted by the companies that offer them. That by itself should raise a red flag for those considering them. With so much invested in marketing these products, you have to suspect that a reverse mortgage is a much better deal for the lender than for the homeowner-retiree. That means, of course, that they are a very expensive way to generate retirement income.

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Beware of Tougher Mortgage Lending Requirements for Condos

Condominiums have a lot of appeal to some retirees and baby boomers looking to downsize. We are brand new condo owners ourselves. I’m not going to review in this post all of the potential benefits and drawbacks of condominium living, because we are still learning. So far, so good for us. However, other potential condo buyers out there need to be aware of new mortgage lending standards being applied.

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How Does a Baby Boomer Define Financial Success?

What is financial success? The American consumer’s definition of financial success seems to be changing by year and varying by age. That’s what broker TD Ameritrade learned from a recent survey. Read more

What to Ignore and Watch for in the New Credit Card Rules

If you are a baby boomer who is serious about being financially prepared for retirement, there are (in my humble opinion) some very good reasons why you can ignore the new credit card regulatory rules that went into effect on February 22. There are also some important changes to watch for. Read more

Should You Rent or Buy a Home in Retirement?

Rent or buy? This is a question that is taking on more significance for those of us preparing to retire. Owning your own home in retirement used to be an assumed goal. That was when having paid off your mortgage was also assumed. No more. Many boomers are still lurching their way toward retirement dragging an anchor: a big mortgage. Does that make sense? Probably not. Read more

Have Baby Boomers Permanently Changed their Spending and Saving Habits?

I received a press release today about a national survey of U.S. adults of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds. The survey focused on how spending and saving habits have been changed by our economic turmoil and whether those changes are expected to be permanent or temporary. The results were interesting and hopeful.
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Should You Have a Mortgage in Retirement?

It used to be uncommon to retire with debt. Even less common was retiring with a mortgage. Not any more.

According a new report from the Center for Retirement Research, in 2007 41% of households aged 60-69 had a mortgage. Remarkably, half of those mortgage debtors had sufficient assets to pay off their mortgage. Read more

Time to Pay Off Credit Card Debt

Just in case the economic events of 2008-2009 haven’t frightened and motivated baby boomers into aggressively attacking their remaining credit card debt, there’s more. Read more

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