Meet Me in St. Louie

One of the joys of retirement is the flexibility and time to travel more often to visit family and friends. I'm in St. Louis (my hometown) this week to celebrate my mom's 83rd BD and attend my niece's baby shower. It's been a fun week, dining out at some of our favorite restaurants -- the Pasta House Company and Rizzo's. Fall in St. Louis is the best, with cool temperatures and highlights of gold, red and orange coloring the trees. I had a wonderful time reminiscing with my friend Ruth who I had not seen in almost 20 years! We traveled together a lot during college and spent a month in Europe in 1970 using Arthur Frommer's Europe on $5 a Day as our bible. It wasn't easy, but doable and we visited 14 cities in 28 days never spending more than $5 for food and lodging. That's when I fell in love with traveling. If you're retired, don't forget that the cheapest days to fly and those with the least air traffic are usually Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I've found the best travel bargains on those days using www.cheaptickets.com

Relocation - Cost of Living

Have you got the bug to move after you retire? If so, there’s several dollar factors to consider other than just the cost of the actual move, which will range from $1800 for an in-state move to more than $10,000 for a cross country move. For a quick cost comparison between cities, check out Sperling’s Best Places at www.bestplaces.net/COL It’s free and easy to use. After plugging in your 'Current' and 'Comparison' cities, the site will give you an easy to read chart with comparisons for food, housing, utilities, transportation, health and miscellaneous. Another great source for info on cost of living and retirement communities is 'WHERE TO LIVE' magazine at www.wheretoretire.com

Two factors you should consider before relocating are state income taxes and property taxes as the senior citizen exemption for each varies from state to state. Several states fully tax pension income. I live in Colorado which allows for state income tax purposes a reduction in pension income of the smaller of your income or $20,000 if you are at least 55. The reduction increases at age 65. In Adams County there are significant reductions in property taxes when I reach 65 and meet certain regulatory requirements. When I moved to my Active Adult Community, I used Amazing Moves in Denver - http://www.amazingmoves.com/ Their prices were in line with other movers, but it was their efficient, courteous workers that impressed me the most and actually made the move a very pleasant experience.