Understanding Basic Economics We senior citizens need to look at a very direct relationship that we might not always acknowledge.  That is the reality that a healthy national employment figure contributes to the financial well-being of everyone, including seniors.  What is the relationship?// First, when more people are working and prospering, there is less need [...]

A recent discussion in a social situation brought some interesting considerations to light regarding senior citizen finances.  A group of seniors were talking about their needs for predictable guaranteed income, monthly sums they could depend on not influenced by the fluctuations of the stock market. Tens of thousands of senior citizens find themselves in this [...]

Fixed Income Defined Let’s take a look at what a fixed income is.  We typically use the term to describe the financial condition of millions of senior citizens.  When refer to income as ‘fixed’, we are saying that the income for those persons is limited to the monthly amount received from defined benefit plans, most [...]

40-Year Old Plan Has a Comeback Retirees and Baby Boomers that we hear from continue to struggle with finances. We senior citizens are not in the 1% of wealth Americans; we’re in the 99%.  We want assurances that our retirement money will outlive us, and that is hard to come by.  However, there is another [...]

Seniors Save with Internet Resources There are a variety of Internet websites that offer assistance to senior citizens looking to make their retirement dollars stretch as far as possible.  SCJ did a search this week for sites that offer coupons targeted to senior citizens.  Here’s what we found:// A full products and services directory offered [...]

Last week SCJ began a two-part post on the ten best cities to retire in the United States, chosen by AARP.  Their examination included over 350 cities.  They looked at financial data, including property and sales-tax rates, median housing prices, cost of living and tax rates on pensions and Social Security.   AARP also included recreation, [...]

Criteria for ‘Best Retirement City’ AARP recently announced its choices for the ten best cities to retire in the United States.  Their examination included over 350 cities.  They looked at financial data, including property and sales-tax rates, median housing prices, cost of living and tax rates on pensions and Social Security.   AARP also included recreation, [...]

Senior Citizens Change Driving Habits An AARP article in September, 2011, described a variety of ways senior citizens can save money.  Being thrifty in difficult economic times just makes sense.  Coupon shopping, eating at home rather than in restaurants, living on a budget designed for your income and necessary expenses, limiting credit card use to [...]

The What-To-Buy Dilemma Some seniors are lucky; they hit on just the right gift for each member of their family a few years ago, and have just repeated that every year for Christmas gift-giving.  Or they give gifts of money or gift cards to everyone, and it works for both the giver and receivers. Or [...]

Seniors Downsize for Financial Reasons A recent article in the AARP Bulletin sparked some discussion about senior citizen downsizing and why we choose to do so.  The usual reasons were highlighted in our conversations: desire to live more simply health and other issues prevent taking care of larger home and ‘stuff’ desire to travel without [...]