Things To Do In SW Florida

By Rachel Christian, Bankrate

The road to retirement is full of twists and turns. You might think you’re on the right path, but life can throw unexpected obstacles in your way that derail even the best laid plans.

Numerous variables are at play, from how long you might live to how much you’ll receive each month from Social Security. A few wrong calculations, and you run the risk of outliving your savings. You might envision retirement as a great escape from the daily grind, but planning it can feel daunting.

Financial advisers help you tackle the many aspects of retirement planning by offering personalized recommendations based on your situation. But is hiring one of these professionals worth the cost? After all, a 1 percent fee on your total assets under management is common, while a comprehensive financial plan can easily cost $1,000 or more.

Here’s what you should consider when weighing the financial pros and cons of hiring a financial adviser for retirement planning.

What is retirement planning?

Retirement planning is the process of preparing and organizing your finances to ensure a secure and comfortable lifestyle after you stop working. read more

In Ed Slott’s recent monthly newsletter, he pointed out some important information that individuals with IRA accounts and 401(k) accounts should be aware of.

Advantage of converting to a Roth:

When you convert pre-taxed retirement funds to a Roth account, all interest and dividends associated with the funds converted as well as any increase in the market value of funds converted are tax-free. However, the amount converted is taxable in the year of conversion.

Previously, you could undo a Roth conversion by changing to contribution to a traditional IRA. However, this action, known as a recharacterization, was repealed after 12/31/2017. However, you can still change your mind regarding a Roth contribution in the current year. to a traditional IRA if you decide you don’t want to report the contribution as taxable income in 2024.

Possible tax savings associated with movement into a long-term care facility:

If you decide to join a long-term care facility for yourself or a family member, the initial cost and recurring costs are likely to be considerable. Slott pointed out ways in which there are ways to take advantage of current tax provisions. read more

TALLAHASSEE — Unemployment in Florida held steady at 3.3 percent in July, while retirements among baby boomers and some Gen Xers are affecting the state’s labor force.

The Florida Department of Commerce on Friday released a report that showed the same 3.3 percent unemployment rate as in April, May and June. The size of the labor force was down slightly in July, while the number of people out of work ticked up.

Among areas of Florida, the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metropolitan statistical area had a 3.4 percent unemployment rate in July, up from 3.1 percent in June.

The Panama City area was at 3.5 percent. The Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island and the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford areas were at 3.7 percent, while the Jacksonville, Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater areas were at 3.8 percent.

The highest rate was in the Homosassa Springs area at 5.9 percent, up from 5.2 percent in June. The Villages area was at 5.7 percent followed by the Sebring area at 5.6 percent. read more

The Mars-bound twin spacecraft for NASA’s ESCAPADE mission were packed up in California to be shipped out to Florida this week ahead of what would be the first ever launch of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral.

ESCAPADE stands for Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers, and the mission’s purpose is to orbit Mars and observe plasma and magnetic fields around the planet to help understand what processes strip atoms from Mars’ magnetosphere and upper atmosphere. That could help explain why Mars’ atmosphere is so thin, and how it may have evolved over time.

The two small satellites, dubbed Blue and Gold, were built by Rocket Lab in California for NASA and the University of California Berkeley’s Space Science Laboratory. They will soon arrive to Kennedy Space Center where they will head to a cleanroom for post-transport inspections and tests. Eventually they will be encapsulated for launch on New Glenn from Blue Origin’s pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch Complex 36, something Blue Origin officials state will happen before the end of the year. read more

TALLAHASSEE — Florida saw increased tourism during the second quarter of 2024, while it continues trying to get the international market back to pre-pandemic levels.

With the totals driven by tourists from other parts of the U.S., Visit Florida on Thursday estimated the state had 34.2 million visitors during the April-through-June period, 1.64 percent more than during the same period in 2023.

For the first six months of 2024, the state had an estimated 74.8 million visitors, a 1.4 percent increase from the first half of 2023.

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office sent out a news release describing the new totals as the “greatest second-quarter tourism numbers in Florida history.”

Travelers from other parts of the U.S. accounted for 92 percent of Florida’s second-quarter visitors.

The estimate of 31.5 million domestic travelers was up 1.8 percent from the second quarter of 2023 and 8.7 percent higher than in 2019, the last full year before the COVID-19 pandemic slammed into the state.

After a huge drop in tourism early in the pandemic, Florida initially focused on attracting people from other parts of the U.S. before shifting attention to the international market. read more