Houses

Income, living P to P, even retirement security is relative. You can’t apply just one set of numbers, but HD folks know that. I intuitively knew it too, but I never looked closely at some variables. Relocating and downsizing are often a part of retirement and can have positive or negative financial consequences. It’s something to think about. 
For  example:
In New Jersey the lower limit of middle class is nearly $70.000 a year, but in Mississippi it is about $40,000.

A paper by Northwestern University and University of Chicago researchers concluded that Gen Z “are spending more of their earnings than they are saving, they’re working less, and they’re making risky investments.” 46% of Gen Z respondents agreed with this statement: “No matter how hard I work, I will never be able to afford a home I really love.” 
The emphasis is mine and I think that’s important. One of the challenges we face in life is “unrealistic expectations.” In the current market,

Connie has a relative who likes to claim her admittedly very successful son owns a hotel in Florida. I checked that out and the reality is he participates in a real estate trust or holding company that actually owns various properties.
That knowledge told me there is more than one way to claim smart investing. I violated my standard of knowing what I was buying – sort of.
I just purchased 1,000 shares in the Empire State Building.

A couple of years ago, as I started to plan my retirement, I published an article called “When and Where?” Later, I followed up with a post explaining that I’d chosen the “when” (July 1, 2025) and that my husband and I were still thinking about the “where” but were inclined to stay put in the college town in Northern California where we’ve lived for almost 35 years.
One option we’ve been seriously considering is purchasing a home for ourselves with a floor plan that could accommodate our adult daughter,

IF YOU OWN a home or are planning to buy one, there are a few things you need to know from the tax standpoint that could save you money:
1. Mortgage Interest
If you have a mortgage, you can typically deduct the interest you pay on the loan up to $750,000 ($1,000,000 if taken before December 16, 2017) but only if you itemize your deductions (schedule A)
You can also deduct points you paid if you itemize.

I spent 9 hours yesterday helping one of the three girls I’m buying a wedding dress for move into her very first house. It’s amazing how much stuff needs sorting during a move.
After the contract was signed and the keys were handed over, we drove to the house with our first load of stuff in a fleet of three cars. They were surprised that a letter had already reached the property from the mortgage lender—just a letter detailing the date and amount of the first payment.

Home affordability has been the talk of the town for a while and it inspired me to get a feel for the forest in a domain largely cluttered with political opinion instead of scientific method. My objective was to distill the relevant data as much as possible, but no more than that.
The first thing that came to mind was inflation-adjusted home prices. Robert Shiller’s CPI adjusted methods are my favorite and offer the largest view of the forest.

I paid the property taxes on my vacation home the other day. That got me thinking about the reality and impact I have on the local area and the ongoing debate around property prices.
I suspected property prices in the small coastal village where I have a vacation home were inflated, partly because of owners like myself buying in the area. But I recently discovered just how bad things have become. The village has the largest disconnect between median wages and median house prices in my entire region: properties cost 11.3 times the median annual wage.

We talk a lot about downsizing, upsizing, and “right-sizing.” But I think the more useful question is: How well will your home support you 10–15 years down the road—and what are you willing to pay for that flexibility?
I’m planning a retirement build and I’m intentionally designing for aging in place—wide doors and hallways, single-floor living, an easy/step-free entrance, and a walk-in shower with a minimal curb (plus the usual goal: fewer maintenance headaches).

(I brought up ADUs in the “Retirement and Investment Content” thread and got several comments – particularly asking that ADU be spelled out. I wrote something there, but figured it deserves it’s own topic.)
Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) are not new, but their role in housing and retirement planning has expanded significantly—particularly in high-growth regions. In Seattle, where I live, nearly 70% of new single-family permits now include an ADU. Washington State explicitly promotes ADUs as a response to the senior housing shortage,

With families spread out across the country—and sometimes across the world—I’ve been chewing on something for a while.
Quick definition: a nuclear family is the basic household unit—parents (or a single parent) and kids living together.
What I’m really asking about is the older geographic family nucleus—grandparents, siblings, aunts/uncles close enough to be “boots on the ground” when you need help.
It seems like that this started loosening after WWII and, by the late 70s/80s, more families were scattered for careers,

Taxes have been a regular topic on HD and why not, they are critical for both our personal finances and running our society. To say people have different views about taxes is a major understatement.
One of the current hot issues is property taxes. Movements are afoot to stop property taxes- at least for those “retired,” over age 65 or who have no mortgage.  The logic of any of that escapes me. 
However, the level of support among seniors seems quite high and to my way of thinking a bit selfish and shortsighted.

We know the equity in a home can be important and is part of net worth. It can be used to purchase with cash when downsizing. It can be sold and the cash used for living expenses – tax-free income up to a point. It can be used as income via a reverse mortgage. It seems a growing number of seniors are using home equity to pay an entrance fee to a CCRC. Or it may be part of inheritance.

As I have written recently we have begun investigating CCRCs. I am curious as to what other bills that you paid when you owned a house are eliminated or reduced, and if reduced by what percentage. Also what additional charges/bills might be incurred from the CCRC other than the obvious monthly fee.
Ideas I’m thinking may be eliminated are expenses such as property taxes, fuel for heating/cooking etc. is electricity included in the monthly charge. How many meals etc.

I guess it’s one of those dreams, when retirement finally comes, buying a coastal property and living by the sea. It’s an appealing scenario, and a lot of people make the leap to live their best life at the coast. But if you’re thinking about it, have you considered the extra weather and environmental risks of living near the sea?
Although I don’t permanently live at the coast, I do have a vacation property within a few hundred feet of the sea.