Boomers Headed for Retirement Communities

A growing number of Baby Boomers plan to move to retirement communities, according to a new survey.

A news release said the poll by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the MetLife Mature Market Institute (MMI) found more than 1.2 million households are headed for elder care facilities. While most consumers age 55 and up prefer to stay in their homes as they age, a slightly increasing number (3%, compared to 2.2% in 2001) will opt for age-restricted communities.

The report also showed that the new homes offered to 55-and-older buyers and renters grew in size from 2001 through 2007 from an average of about 1,800 square feet to about 2,300.

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“The Baby Boomers’ influence on housing choices has been profound, and will have a huge impact on trends in housing for the mature market as that age group continues to move toward retirement,” said Sandra Timmermann, director of the MetLife Mature Market Institute, in the news release. “Some findings, such as the tendency for buyers in 55+ communities to continue to work in greater numbers and for longer periods of time, show us that this group is redefining the traditional notion of retirement.”

The report also found that of the Baby Boomers close to 65 years old, many are not yet planning to retire, and are looking for a community close to their place of employment, or one that allows them to transition into a work-from-home situation. The number of people who chose a community close to work increased from 11.4% in 2001 to 16.6% in 2007, according to the report.

The report is based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Housing Survey from 2001 through 2007. The report is available here.

Online Tools Allow Anyone to Compare Plans

AtPrime Media, Inc., has announced a new service, Compare and Rank Online Service, previously unavailable to the general public.

AtPrime is the sponsor of the @Prime! Pension Inspector, a consumer and professional online tool for determining the financial performance of qualified retirement plans.

Developed by retirement plan technical experts, the @Prime! Pension Inspector “Compare and Rank” is a software that enables the user to compare and rank plan earnings, expenses, balance sheet items, plan income, and funding ratios with other qualified retirement plans from official Form 5500 tax returns, as well as recognized financial market performance indexes, according to a press release.

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Once the user completes the initial query, the user has the option of adding multiple reports combined into a printable Plan Report Card. Every Compare and Rank query is developed based upon industry, location, zip code, size, or plan features. In addition, the company said, plan earnings each year are compared automatically with five stock and five bond indexes.

“For the first time anyone can compare and rank any qualified retirement plan that files the required Form 5500 Tax Return, from the plan participant, plan administrator, to government agencies, in order to measure plan strengths and weaknesses, as well as to prepare for a plan audit or to strengthen year-to-year performance,” said David Tananbaum, founder of AtPrime Media, Inc., and the author-developer of the @Prime! Pension Inspector, in the release.

The @Prime! Pension Inspector, launched in November 2007, will remain a free Web service in its standard version, utilizing the Department of Labor’s Form 5500 database. The @Prime! Pension Inspector Compare and Rank is a subscription service selling for $99 per year for a personal license, and $199 per year for a professional license.

More information is available here.

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