downsize

When it's time to downsize, today's empty-nesters don't want to downgrade. Rather, they want to continue enjoying many of the luxuries they've become accustomed to -- except they want less house and property to tend, and of course lower taxes. In addition, people ages 55 and up are younger than they used to be -- they lead active lifestyles, and they're looking for opportunities for Read more...

By Elizabeth Simpson A 50-year-old geophysicist walked away from the oil fields. A 42-year-old human resource specialist quit her job with a defense technology company. A man in his 40s resigned from a Wall Street job two years after he saw the Twin Towers go down. They come from all walks of work to an Old Dominion University [Norfolk, Va.] classroom in search of the same thing: A Read more...

Michael Ingraham figured he would need $50,000 to $60,000 a year for him and his wife to live comfortably in retirement. Now that he's 67, that doesn't seem to be much of a problem. Ingraham, who owned a New York medical advertising firm, saved money religiously. He invested wisely and downsized from a Freehold Township horse farm to a Sea Bright condominium, adding even more money to the Read more...

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