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July 4th Scenes in Kings Mountain
The Kings Mountain Herald | www.kmherald.com
Jaiden Huffman joined other acts on the Neisler stage for a day filled with live music, good
food, patriotism and fireworks.
Dear Savvy Senior,
My wife and I will both be retiring
in a year or two and are interested in
moving to a smaller house in a better
climate but could use some help. What
resources can you recommend for
locating and researching good places to
retire in the U.S.?
Looking To Relocate
Dear Looking,
If you're interested in relocating when
you retire, like millions of other baby
boomers, there are a wide variety of free
Web-based resources that can help you
find and research a new location that
meet your wants, needs and budget. Here
are several to help you get started.
Where to Retire?
If you aren’t sure where you want to
retire, a good place to begin is by taking
a retirement test at sites like Sperling’s
Best Places (bestplaces.net/fybp) or Find
Your Spot (findyourspot.com). These are
free quizzes that ask dozens of questions
on your preferences such as climate,
recreation, community size and more,
and suggest possible destinations that
best match your answers.
Make every day
| RANTe
AT SUMMIT PLACE OF KINGS MOUNTAIN
SUMMIT PLACE
OF KINGS MOUNTAIN
A member of the 84th Regiment of Foot readies the British flag for an ill-fated battle with
American loyalists.
There are also various media sources
and websites, like U.S. News and World
Report, Kiplinger's, Forbes, Money
magazine, Reuters, Bankrate.com, To-
pRetirements.com, the Milken Institute
and AARP that publish top retirement
location lists you may find helpful too.
To find them, go to any search engine
and type in “best places to retire” along
with the name of the media source.
You should also consider getting a sub-
scription to “Where to Retire” magazine
(wheretoretire.com, 713-974-6903),
which is designed to help you find ideal
retirement settings. A yearly subscription
runs $18 for six issues.
Once you find a few areas that interest
you, your next step is research them.
Here are some important areas you need
to investigate.
Cost of living: Can you afford to live
comfortably in the location you want to
retire to? BestPlaces.net and Numbeo.
com offer tools to compare the cost of
living from your current location to
where you would like to move. They
compare housing costs, food, utilities,
transportation and more.
HVE STAR
£.
SENIOR LIVING
From the moment you step through the
door, you'll feel right at home.
Discover the Summit Place difference.
* 24-hour care team
* Five Star restaurant-style dining
* Supportive assistance with activities
of daily living
* Award-winning Bridge to
Rediscovery™ memory care
neighborhood
Full social calendar
Call 704-739-6772 today
for a personal tour
1001 PHIFER ROAD ¢ KINGS MOUNTAIN, NC 28086
704-739-6772
www.SummitPlace OfKingsMountain.com
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Local singer and vocal coach Josh Sellers gives a stirring rendition of God Bless
America.
The drum line of the Loch Norman Pipe Band take a lap around the walking track as part of
the ceremonies for a Revaluilonary Fourth.
Photos by DAVE BLANTON,
CORRES
Editor
How to Choose the Best Place to Retire
Taxes: Some states are more tax friendly
to retirees than others. If you're planning
to move to another state, Kiplinger’s has
a tax guide for retirees at Kiplinger.com/
links/retireetaxmap that lets you find and
compare taxes state-by-state. It covers
income taxes, sales tax, taxes on retire-
ment income, Social Security benefits
taxes, property taxes, and inheritance
and estate taxes.
Crime rate: To evaluate how safe a
community or area is, Neighborhood-
Scout.com is a top tool that provides
property and violent crime rates, and
crimes per square mile.
Healthcare: Does the area you want
to relocate to have easy access to good
healthcare? To locate and research hos-
pitals in a new area, use HospitalCom-
pare.hhs.gov and QualityCheck.org. To
search for new doctors that accept your
insurance, contact your plan, or, if you're
65 or older use Medicare.gov/physician-
compare. It’s also important to know that
healthcare costs can vary by region, so
you should contact your insurer to check
out possible cost variables.
Transportation: If you plan to travel
© 2015 Five Star Quality
Care, Inc,
much, or expect frequent visits from
your kids or grandkids, convenient
access to an airport or train station is a
nice advantage. You should also inves-
tigate alternative transportation options,
since most retirees give up driving in
there eighties. To do this contact Rides in
Sight (ridesinsight.org, 855-607-4337),
a free transportation referral service, and
the Area Aging Agency — call the Elder-
care Locator at 800-677-1116 to get the
local number.
Other Resources
To learn more about specific communi-
ties across the U.S., AARP’s new livabil-
ity index (livabilityindex.aarp.org) along
with Epodunk.com and GangsAway.com
are three excellent resources, as well as
the city’s chamber of commerce office.
To locate it, go to any search engine and
type in the name of the city and state
followed by “chamber of commerce.”
Send your senior questions to: Savvy
Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK
73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim
Miller is a contributor to the NBC
Today show and author of “The Savvy
Senior” book.
ASSISTED LIVING & AWARD-WINNING
MEMORY CARE
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