In this issue... The biggest wealth transfer in history...Jeff and Donna Matthews Head for Tennessee ... Floor plans for homes with built-in airplane hangars.Close-up on Savannah, Georgia .Getaway Specials from Mount Vintage Plantation..and more
Things To Ponder
What happens when 78 million people change from buyers to sellers? Nobody really knows.
People are beginning to talk about “the biggest wealth transfer in history” and wondering what’s going to happen when 78 million Baby Boomers – the wealthiest generation, by far, in history - move en masse from accumulating wealth to distributing (liquidating) their wealth. Put in the simplest terms, what happens when 78 million people change from buyers to sellers (of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate, their family businesses, etc.) – and there are only 48-50 million Generation Xers to buy what the Boomers are selling? This level of intergenerational wealth transfer is simply unprecedented. But, based on the principles of Economics 101, when there are a lot more sellers than buyers, prices tend to fall. Some economists, financial planners and other experts say that Boomers looking ahead at retirement in the next 10 to 20 years should carefully consider their asset mix and protect themselves from the downside risk of dramatically falling prices/values and/or the possibility of a bout of runaway inflation similar to what the U.S. experienced in the 1970s (remember “stagflation” and the “misery index”?). For more on this topic, read the Financial Matters column in the Spring issue of Living Southern Style magazine. (To sign up for your FREE issue, click here.) (Sources: FDIC; Government Accountability Office; Insurance Journal; The-Great-Retirement-Experiment.com)
Jeff & Donna Matthews, Gurnee, IL
When Jeff and Donna Matthews attended their first LiveSouth Real Estate Show in Chicago (their home in Gurnee, Illinois is about 50 miles north), Fairfield Glade in Tennessee was one of the places that caught their attention. After several trips to other LiveSouth Real Estate Shows and on-site visits to communities in Arizona, the Carolinas and Tennessee, they ended up where they started. "Fairfield Glade was affordable for us and has the things we wanted most: golf, lakes, the mountains, and all four seasons. And we're only a day's drive from our friends and family in the Chicago area. That was important, too." Jeff and Donna also found that Fairfield Glade contained a large and vibrant community of fellow Mid-Westerners, so they felt their new community would consist of people with shared values and a shared heritage. Jeff retired in 2005 and Donna will retire at the end of this school year, so they're ready to go. "We hope and plan to be spending Christmas 2007 in Tennessee!" Jeff says.
Find out more about homes in Fairfield Glade
What
to Know Before You Go
How/where to take your plane with you
If you plan to bring your plane along when you retire or if you’re just dying to have an airport runway in your backyard - literally – you’ll want to check out www.livingwithyourplane.com. A $20 annual subscription to LWYP gets you a regular newsletter, their directory of all the airparks and “fly-in communities” in the U.S. (including those in the planning or construction stages) and even several dozen floor plans for houses with built-in airplane hangars (no, we’re not kidding). Who needs a garage, anyway?
Of the 57 million American women 45 and up, nearly half (25 million) are unmarried (because of what Jan Cullinane, co-author of the book, “The New Retirement”, calls “the three Ds” – Death, Divorce or Delay). This number is larger than the entire populations of countries such as North Korea, Taiwan, and Australia. (Source: AARP.) Single women accounted for 22% of all home purchases in 2006. (Source: National Association of Realtors.)
CHECK
IT OUT – Savannah, GA
Beautiful and historic downtown with many trees and parks (one visitor commented, "You can't go more than 2-3 blocks downtown without running into a park."). No huge skyscrapers. Vibrant artist community (the campus of SCAD - Savannah College of Art & Design - is scattered throughout the downtown area). Cool riverfront with water taxi. Lots of outdoor festivals during the year. Check it out.
Communities in or near Savannah
The Landings on Skidaway Island
Cooper's
Point at Shellman's Bluff
Savannah Quarters
Southbridge
Golf and Spa Community
River
Oaks
GETAWAY
SPECIAL – Mount Vintage Plantation, North Augusta, SC
Mount Vintage Plantation & Golf Club is
now featuring four outstanding Visitation Packages: a Golf
Package, Tennis Package, Dinner Package or Equestrian Package.
For only $110 ($160 for the Equestrian Package), you get 3
days and 2 nights accommodations plus the activity of your
choice (golf or tennis or dinner or a guided trail ride). The
Golf Package even includes a free golf cart. Contact Mount
Vintage at 1-888-271-3330 and let them know you read about
them in the Choose the Right Place Newsletter from LiveSouth.com or click here to request more information
