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MarketWatch
February 25, 2010 Thursday 1:06 PM EST
SECTION: PERSONAL FINANCE; Personal Finance Daily
LENGTH: 852 words
HEADLINE: The real No. 1 retirement locale? Home
BYLINE: MarketWatch
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Florida and Arizona have a host of competitors now when it comes to preferred retirement destinations. Sure, those two rather warm states remain popular spots to relocate but they no longer hold an exclusive on the senior set.
That’s why you see more towns in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee — even Delaware and Maine — popping up in Top Places to Retire lists. Those spots may not be as toasty as the Sunshine State but they are relatively mild and usually boast much lower costs of living than you’re likely to find in other retirement paradises — a key consideration in these days of depleted nest eggs.
The vast majority of retirees don’t worry about relocating once they wrap up their primary careers, though, because they stay put. It’s called aging in place, but what it really is is a desire to remain close to friends, family, institutions and activities that are familiar.
A lot of those folks may click wistfully on Web pages of more exotic locales as they research their retirements and they may be intrigued — but they won’t be moved.
— assistant managing editor
RETIREMENT LIVING
The top 10 places to retire
Where do you want to live in retirement? Most folks age in place. But there are those who spend their golden years in dreamy locales. Where are those places?
INVESTING
Bond ETF buyers, beware
Investors seeking safety have been pouring cash into bond funds — but when it comes to exchange-traded funds they run the risk of limiting gains or magnifying losses.
Bracing for higher interest rates
Higher interest rates are coming. And that has significant implications for investors, since markets anticipate events. Assuming we are in the very early stages of a credit-tightening cycle, investors need a whole new strategy for a world of rising interest rates. Here are some of the implications investors need to address now and over the next several months:
Emerging markets hit speed bump
Financial troubles in Southern Europe and unrest in Turkey threaten investors in developing markets, says David Riedel, president of emerging-market analysts Riedel Research. Jonathan Burton reports.
REAL ESTATE
Builders bracing for long, slow recovery in housing
The abysmal new-home sales numbers released Wednesday are a grim reminder that the housing recovery will likely be choppy, and some home-builder chiefs are voicing concerns about what will happen to demand when stimulus measures expire soon.
30-year fixed-rate mortgages now above 5%
For the first time in three weeks, rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to above 5%, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of conforming mortgage rates.
CONSUMER WATCH
Protecting consumers central to bank-reform bill: Dodd
New bank regulations must protect consumers from unsafe financial products, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee said Wednesday in pushing for sweeping bipartisan reform legislation.
HEALTH CARE
Unfortunate? Definitely. Necessary? Not so fast
Unfortunate but necessary. That’s how executives from health insurance giant WellPoint and its subsidiary Anthem Blue Cross of California summed up their justification for Anthem’s planned premium rate hikes of up to 39% for individual policyholders in hearings before lawmakers in California and Washington D.C. this week. The rate increases are side effects, they say, of rising medical costs, higher utilization of services and a troubled economy that has more young, healthy people choosing not to buy coverage when they lose their jobs. But the companies’ version of events may be suffering from “truthiness,” as satirist Stephen Colbert so delicately put it.
Lines drawn, health-care summit opens
President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans opened the White House’s health-care summit on Thursday with a clash over how best to reform the system, with Obama calling for common ground but Republicans urging a return to the drawing board on the huge bill.
Obama’s opening statement at health-care summit
President Barack Obama said in a statement opening his bipartisan summit on health-care that he hoped the two parties would genuinely try to solve problems with the system and avoid turning the event into political theater.
FAMILY FINANCE
How to choose the right college fund
It’s not easy. Did you know there are some 85 different college savings funds, known as 529 programs, offered through states and big financial institutions?
Personal Finance Minute: Get your credit report
New laws that mandate consumers be given free credit reports come into effect later this year. Personal Finance Editor Andrea Coombes gives you the tips you need to save money and guard against ID theft.
THE JOB MARKET
Temp workers no longer on a path to permanent jobs
More workplace woes: Temp workers may no longer land permanent jobs, as MarketWatch’s Charlie Turner reports.
TRAVEL
Two seats as a first-class alternative
Middle Seat columnist Scott McCartney joins the News Hub to discuss a new trend in flying — getting a second seat.
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