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Retirement Planning

Explore the major decisions involved in preparing for retirement, including timing, healthcare, housing, estate planning, and financial readiness.

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Retirement Planning articles

Recent guides and practical explanations from across this topic.

Wills vs. trusts: How to set your family up for success Estate Planning & Financial Safety
• 24 min read

Wills vs. trusts: How to set your family up for success

Key takeaways Picture the weeks after someone dies without an estate plan, whether it’s a will or trust. The surviving…

Top 5 affordable cities in the American Midwest for retirement Health, Housing & Lifestyle
• 17 min read

Top 5 affordable cities in the American Midwest for retirement

Key takeaways Retirement location conversations have followed the same geography for decades. Florida. Arizona. The Carolinas. The Midwest came up…

How to access healthcare while living abroad Health, Housing & Lifestyle
• 17 min read

How to access healthcare while living abroad

Key takeaways For many Americans, retiring abroad has its appeals. The bureaucratic friction that defines so much of American daily…

What is elder financial abuse? Warning signs Estate Planning & Financial Safety
• 16 min read

What is elder financial abuse? Warning signs

Key takeaways Elder financial abuse can start several different ways: a family member stepping in after a health scare, a…

Downsizing your home for retirement: A checklist Health, Housing & Lifestyle
• 15 min read

Downsizing your home for retirement: A checklist

Key takeaways Graphic by Kate Farley The checklist The house usually starts giving signals before anyone is ready to act…

The importance of an ethical will vs. a living will for retirement planning Estate Planning & Financial Safety
• 18 min read

The importance of an ethical will vs. a living will for retirement planning

Key takeaways There is a version of retirement planning that gets done thoroughly and still leaves something out. The accounts…

Medicare 101: Understanding Parts A, B, C and D Health, Housing & Lifestyle
• 18 min read

Medicare 101: Understanding Parts A, B, C and D

Key takeaways Medicare is not one entity. It is four, and the four parts do not all work the same…

Which careers retire earliest (and latest) in the US? Retirement Timing & Readiness
• 11 min read

Which careers retire earliest (and latest) in the US?

Key takeaways According to Gallup’s most recent Economy and Personal Finance survey, the self-reported average retirement age in the US…

Americans are retiring earlier, but not by choice: What’s really going on? Retirement Timing & Readiness
• 12 min read

Americans are retiring earlier, but not by choice: What’s really going on?

Key takeaways When workers are surveyed about their retirement plans, the numbers look orderly. Gallup’s Economy and Personal Finance survey…