Careers for Ray Custer and his wife, Pat Custer, took them away from Iowa to Kansas City. Retirement saw them move back to Des Moines. But first they had to figure out where to live. And how to live.

It popped into Ray’s head that he didn’t care to move a lot once he got settled into Des Moines. The Custers were in their mid-60s at the time and concerned about future health care needs. They figured that at some point they would find themselves in a retirement community. So why not now? Why not move into what the retirement living industry calls a Continuing Care Retirement Community, where you can move in now and stay put (though you might have to move down the hallway as your health care needs rise).

The Custers devised a plan of attack. First, they would select three or four retirement communities that interested them, either because of the location or because of the structure of the community. Then they would divide the review based on their skills learned from their careers that would in this instance come in handy. Pat is a nurse, so she would review the health care aspect. Ray is a CPA, so he crunched numbers to see how community living would affect their cash flow.

"Get the contract [for the sale] and sit down with your tax guy," says Ray. This can be complicated.

Pricing structures vary among retirement facilities. There is an upfront entrance fee, and ongoing monthly charges. You might pay a lot now, and a smaller monthly fee. You might pay relatively little now, and then pay more as your level of care advances. Some places allow you to pay a flat fee, regardless of the level of care. Others will refund some of the upfront fee, depending on how long you reside with them.

AARP says that entrance charges range from $100,000 to $1 million. Monthly charges typically run from $3,000 to $5,000.

In the end, the Custers settled on Deerfield, on Hickman Road in Urbandale. They reside in a town home now, living independently, but have the ability to move to assisted living, should the need arise, and later on to residential care and then skilled care.

Terms and conditions are spelled out in what Steve Gilbert, director of sales at Deerfield, calls a life care contract. Click here for questions to ask as you consider this process.

Seem like a lot of homework? Get your children involved. This is a very big decision that will affect your lives and finances — and theirs.

Are you a Type A, or Type B?

It’s really a pretty simple breakdown between the two major types of assisted living: Type A, or Type B. Here’s how the Texas Health Care Association distinguishes between the two:

Type A facilities typically care for residents who are capable of caring for themselves, are able to evacuate unassisted if necessary, can follow directions in an emergency, and do not require routine attendance during regular sleeping hours.

Type B facilities care for individuals who need much more assistance with evacuation and emergency situations and require nighttime attendance.

If you’re at a Type A facility and find that your health deteriorates to the point where you require Type B level of care, well, you might have to move.

In either case, an assisted living facility provides individual health and personal care assistance in a home-like environment. The services include meals, laundry, medication supervision and assistance with normal daily activities. Facilities can be large apartment-like settings or small personal homes.

With a Type B plan, some portion of the monthly fee that you pay may be tax-deductible because it involves payment for medical services. Check with your tax professional on this point.

A number of factors can influence your decision to move to a new place, including where your peers are headed. While some older generations like rich retirees and rich Gen Xers are moving to Florida, wealthy millennials are still seeking out sunny locales, but in other states. In recent years California, home of Silicon Valley, has been a relatively popular destination for people who are younger than 35. By contrast, data shows that this demographic is exiting New York in droves — the state had a net outflow of 4,867 wealthy people under the age of 35 from 2015 to 2016. However, its neighbor across the Hudson River, New Jersey, made it into the top 10 cities in our study of where rich millennials are moving.

To determine where wealthy millennials are moving, we considered the inflow and outflow of this demographic to each state. We defined millennials as people under the age of 35 and looked specifically at millennials with adjusted gross incomes of at least $100,000. Read more >>

I have a lot of bad habits. For example, I tend to bite my nails when I get stressed out. I also have a penchant for opening the cupboard to get a drinking glass — then walking away and leaving the door wide open. I know. I can’t explain it either.

Even so, I have a lot of good habits too; perhaps not coincidentally, many of them are related to personal finance. Hopefully, you have a lot of good personal finance habits too. How many of these apply to you?

1. Taking advantage of your employer’s flexible spending account. These accounts not only reduce your tax liability, but they also act as a de facto quasi-savings plan.

2. Tracking your income and expenses. Read more >>

How much does a person need to feel rich?

A recent survey from Charles Schwab revealed that a net worth of $2.27 million would be enough. But can you really put a number on it?

For many people, being wealthy means being financially independent and not having to work for a living, says Bradley Nelson, of Lyon Park Advisors. He says a family with a net worth of $2.27 million could easily be wealthy.
If that family spent a conservative 3% of their assets each year, they would have $68,100 a year to live on. That's more than the median household income in the United States of $61,000 — without even having to work.

But that wouldn't be enough for some people. And for others, wealth isn't a financial concept at all.

That's why finding what makes you feel wealthy takes a strategy rather than a single specific number, says Nelson. Read more >>

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