The Savvy Boomer

Canadians need to be aware of implications of buying a house in the US

 

It seems that a lot of Canadians who are retired or retiring are considering buying or have already bought US real estate for their winter getaway.   Phoenix, St. Petersburg and Palm Springs are 3 main areas that attract  Canadian snowbirds interested in buying in the US.  The main reasons are threefold:

1. The weather forecasts in these areas in the winter months seldom if ever contain the dreaded word "snow."
2. The Canadian dollar is now worth more than the US $, currently 6% more.
3. US house prices in states such as Florida, Arizona and parts of California are quite attractive compared to Canadian house prices which are still on the rise.

While Canadians can't live in the US without a visa, they can visit and/or live there for a total of up to 6 months every year with just a Canadian passport.  There are several implications however that Canadians must consider when traveling or living for periods of time in the US including health insurance, opening bank accounts, and perhaps paying US income tax if they own property there.  The Financial Post has drawn attention to the latter in this cautionary article which is must reading for every Canadian who either owns or is considering owning US property. 

Are the small everyday treats going to cost you a later retirement?

We've all had the experience of buying something and heard a small voice ask the question "Do I really need this?"  The larger the value of the item, the larger the voice usually becomes.  However, how many people ask themselves the question when it comes to the little daily treats like a latte, a muffin or even buying lunch instead of brown bagging it?  When I ask myself that question it is usually about the extra calories and not the money.

But the article below by Steve Orr suggests that impulse buys may be killing your retirement.  While I think it may be a bit over the top, there are some worthwhile points to ponder here for those of you who have several years before retirement.  Thank God he didn't do an analysis on a couple of beers/scotches a day.  I'd probably be on my own private island trying to decide whether to use my yacht or helicopter to do a single malt run.

Are Impulse Buys Killing Your Retirement?

Expert Reveals How Coffee, Muffins and Lunch

Can Add Up to More Gold In Your Golden Years

 As a registered investment advisor, Steve Orr is used to juggling millions, but he knows those millions started out as pennies.

Brats whining about boomers

Look at some of the articles below written by people who are probably children of boomers who probably paid for their kid's education so that they could learn how to be witty enough to bitch about the boomer generation and therefore their parents.  Any boomer I know never disrespected the previous generation  but I guess the whiners need a target to blame for their perceived woes.  Fortunately, they are in the minority as most gen x and gen y seem to understand that whining never solved anything.

You would think that most of them would have learned to do at least a little research and understand that boomers are classified as people born between 1946 and 1964, and not call President Obama a Gen-Xer and not call his mother, who was born in 1942, a boomer.  Yeah, the rest of their research and facts pretty much follow in that same vein.

Swan Fungus (This guy has some serious issues calling a boomer "a GD MotherF'g stupid bitch ending the post with "Ugh! Baby Boomers.  Die, please?"  I'll bet his boomer mother is real proud but somehow I don't think he cares.)

The Worst Generation Ever (no posts for 6 months-maybe his parents sent him to his room for a time out)

Samuel J Scott(frustrated that boomers won't retire so he can't get a decent job to pay off his student loans)

Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist (an HR firm that obviously doesn't place anyone over 40)

Winner of the "New Rules of Retirement"

Of course-the one person who claims to know nothing about football came the closest to the final score of Superbowl 2009, Steelers 27-Cards 23.  Jane's Granny predicted Steelers to win 29-16.  The funny part is she asked us not to laugh at her guess.  When I sent her an email asking for her shipping address, she thought I was kidding .  Even funnier is that she didn't even watch the game and her husband refused to believe she had come closest.   Show him this post!  A copy of the book is on its way to you.  I know you're going to enjoy it.

New Rules of Retirement

 

"New Rules of Retirement" is a timely book written by 2 Canadian investment professionals, Warren MacKenzie and Ken Hawkins.  I was immediately intrigued when I first saw the cover by the following statement:

"What your financial advisor isn't telling you."

It reminded me that just a few days earlier my wife told me she had requested her financial advisor to sell some stock in her Retirement plan that had actually increased over the last few months.  When she said she wanted it placed in a term deposit the advisor was reluctant and said "Well only if you'll promise me that you'll re-invest it in the market shortly."  Are you kidding me?  She actually said that?  Who's the customer here?  But it makes sense when you realize that these people make their commissions off the churn.  So in this case, it was what the financial advisor was telling us that was disturbing.   I truly believe the byline above is something we all need to know and the authors do a good job of detailing their concerns and giving advice on what to look for to protect your nest egg.

The book deals with a lot of financial issues such as how to ask the right questions of your financial advisor and more importantly, how to find a financial advisor you can trust.  It also deals with other issues pertinent to retirement such as planning for declining health, housing, traveling, working beyond retirement etc.

While the book is more suited for Canadians because all the tax considerations and financial investment vehicles are Canadian oriented, anyone who is looking at the entire retirement picture and especially dealing with a financial advisor will find value in the book.

You can read more about it and buy it on their web site or you can predict the winning score of the SuperBowl game this weekend in the comments of this post and I'll send a free copy to the person who comes closest.  By the way, for you non-U.S football fans, the teams playing are Pittsburgh and Arizona.  My prediction is Arizona 24 -Pittsburgh 23.  Maybe we'll use the proceeds from the stock to bet that.  I doubt Messrs. MacKenzie or Hawkins would agree with that type of investment, not to mention the real owner of the proceeds.

AARP sponsored seminar/webinar on retirement

AARP, along with Business Roundtable, SEIU, and NFIB are sponsoring a conference where experts will discuss how baby boomers can help make their assets last in retirement.  The moderators include Tom Nelson, AARP; Christian Weller, Center for American Progress; Eleanor Blayney, Financial Planners Association; Lynn Dudley, American Benefits Council and Jamey Delaplane, Davis & Harman. Speakers include representatives from government, business and the private sector such as the Employee Benefit Research Institute, the Senate Finance Committee, and Ameriprise.

The event is on May 14th from 9 -3:30 in the Ronald Reagan Building, Atrium Ballroom in Washington but will also be available via webcast: http://www.aarp.org/money/financial_planning/retirement_security_webcast.html

Questions can be submitted via web after each panel.

Click below to see the agenda

U.S. needs to re-think its policy to allow more foreign retirees.

Part of the reason we recently went to Arizona was to look at the possibility of buying retirement real estate.  As much as I love Canada, the winters don't make it attractive as a place to live during retirement, so many Canadians look for alternatives.  Of course the U.S. is a good alternative because the language is English, the culture is similar, the southern regions of the US have warmer climates and it's easy to get back and forth between the 2 countries.

The major problem is that the U.S. will not allow people to stay in the country more than 6 months in a one year period unless they have a visa.  Since most retirees either aren't interested in working or don't even qualify for a working visa, they must leave the country every 6 months. 

Now that's fine for those who can afford or even want to support residences in each country but what if a Canadian retiree just wants one home in a warmer climate and wants to live there all year?  The short answer, is forget about the U.S. and look to other countries like Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, Malaysia, the Philippines etc that have special visas in place that allow foreign retirees to live permanently in their countries.

Can you imagine how much this is helping their economy to allow people who can afford it to live in their country year round?  Other countries with warm climates are moving in the same direction by not only altering visa requirements for foreign retirees but also aggressively marketing the concept to retirees.  Wouldn't such a policy help the U.S. especially given the current housing crisis there?

We know a lot of other Canadians either retiring or close to it and while they look at U.S. real estate, quite a few aren't buying because of the 6 month rule.  Of course, others do, because they want to winter in the South and summer in the North but they still have the hassle of trying to rent out their Southern home for 6 months, which can be hit and miss.  Don't worry, we don't want to work there, just live and spend our money there.  But until the U.S. changes its policies and given the state of paranoia there, I don't expect it to happen anytime soon, I think a lot of us who want a warmer climate are going to be looking to retire elsewhere.

HP Retirees recruited to be goodwill ambassadors

The New York Times has an article about how some retirees are being used by HP as goodwill ambassadors and volunteer salesmen to help promote company products.  While another blogger sees this as "Exploiting retired Elders", I see it as people who obviously feel a sense of loyalty and pride in their former company becoming involved because they want to, not because they are too stupid to realize they are being exploited. 

I totally understand where these people are coming from.  I worked in the IT industry from the early 70s to the late 90s for some of the biggest players.  We all did very well because of good salaries, commissions, stock purchase plans, bonuses, exotic trips etc etc.  I can tell you that HP was known as one of the best places to work because they not only paid well but they treated their employees well.(I never worked there because I usually managed to win against them but obviously they had a lot of wins)  Some people I know took very early retirement because of these conditions.   

So maybe now they figure-"Hey, here I am 60+ years old, no mortgages on my 2 homes, a great pension, more money than I need in the bank and still a few shares of HP kicking around.  So they decide this is not only a way to say thank you, but also make a small contribution to perhaps keep their share price up.   If  IBM ever asked me to do this, I'd certainly consider it because while I haven't worked for them for 20 years and don't receive a pension from them, they are the ones who started me on a reasonably successful and lucrative IT career.  So I can definitely understand why someone who worked at HP most of their career would do this.

Saying that they are being exploited is both an insult to the retiree and to the company that helped them realize a financially successful life.  Don't feel sorry for these people, they are set for life and I say more power to them for wanting to extend their productivity.