@CountingDown, my H is exactly like yours, no interests nor inclinations. My son inherited my H’s lack of interest and made it known to his wife who has a very handy father. We hire out everything and I get stuck with all the hiring, supervising etc.
@CountingDown I come from a fix-it family. Bonus points for being able to fix it with stuff on hand and not going to a hardware store. DH is the opposite. Decades ago my dad tried to take him under his wing to learn basic skills but ultimately gave up. Dad said it was a good thing (future) DH was smart and would get a good job – we were in college at the time – to pay to get things done.
30+ years later, I like fixing things so anything house or car related is my responsibility. I source out less than I used to because there’s a youtube video to show you how to fix most anything.
As I describe it, my husband, who is very “technical” and well respected in his profession, is relegated to holding the flashlight when it comes to home repairs. We too write checks.
LOL - My 90 year old dad just fixed a dryer belt last week. (We don’t even mess with that ourselves). When it got tricky, he called a neighbor for help and gushed about youtube repair videos available these days.
Per mortgage pre-pay or payoff, for us it’s always come down to risk mitigation on job situation… extra cash / lower payment seemed appealing.
I admit we hired a repairman to replace the ancient dryer belt in our dryer and the gasket for our washing machine. Both were original and nearly 30 years old! We were happy to pay the $75 per visit plus the small fee for the parts and labor.
At one point we had 9 mortgages, so paying some of them down as quickly as possible has always been our priority.
Got that down to 6, but we are picking up another one next week (hopefully!). Got another close to being paid off, and we’re trying to sell a property, so hopefully by the end of the year we’ll be down to 5.
Every one that gets paid off frees up $1000-1500/month in cash flow. We typically add that to one of the other mortgages to accelerate that one, and so on. The one we are close to paying off, we are currently paying over 5x the regular mortgage amount every month.
Every one we pay off gets me closer to retirement. 
Fingers crossed for the fast closing! That house is amazing. Carpets are easy to deal with… Building in sensitive areas is not.
Our mortgage, many times refinanced, is now at the historical low rate. I don’t remember exactly when the last refinance was, but it’s 2.something for 15 years. No reason to pay it down now as money is better served elsewhere.
@1214mom I chuckled at your comment because DH and I have used the “hold the flashlight” designation since we were erecting camping tents in the 70s. I was super proud when we actually changed a difficult light bulb together recently. Other than that, one is in charge and the other “holds the flashlight.”
Always good to have a good combination of ‘talents’ between H/W. H’s maternal grandfather was handy, and H and two of his brothers are very handy. However jobs at home outside of his expertise (like HVAC) or what he wants to do (interior home painting) I line up the help on those things and tell him what is going on. Has worked great. H loves doing workshop projects. Right now his project is replacing the door frame on the side garage door - threshold rotted out.
For the Jack Bogle fans, AARP Magazine Aug/Sept 2017 issue has a feature article with the writer asking the now 88 year old JB to talk markets.
Just received the Oct 2017 Consumer Reports issue - cover story “Who Will Care for You?” Well thought out 13 page feature. President of CR stated “the average age of new assisted living residents was 84 in 2016 - and assisted living facilities now account for 17% of America’s senior housing, a 33% increase from just five years ago. What’s more, these residents tend to be sicker than previous generations.”
Sad. Did they say the average age has increased or stayed the same?
@BunsenBurner - the article states a lot of things I know as being ‘in the industry’ (I work for skilled care/rehab as a RN) and have kept track of things in my state and in FIL/MIL’s state. Assisted living is a growth industry, and regulations vary state by state - so as the article states “many assisted living facilities are taking residents who have no business being there”. Article also states “Not surprisingly, consumer complaints about assisted living are on the rise, according to long-term care ombudsmen, trained advocates who operate in all 50 states”.
My in-laws are aging in place, with some resources coming in. They financially cannot afford assisted living, nor do they want to go anywhere else while both are living and doing OK in their home. BIL or us will probably have one move in with us after one passes - they can manage together, but not living alone.
Article also states “Today about 60% of residential care communities provide a dementia are program. And almost one-quarter of assisted living communities maintain a dedicated floor or wing for memory care…, according to the CDC”.
Article has a page with a US map “What Care Costs State by State”.
@BunsenBurner - the article states a lot of things I know as being ‘in the industry’ (I work for skilled care/rehab as a RN) and have kept track of things in my state and in FIL/MIL’s state. Assisted living is a growth industry, and regulations vary state by state - so as the article states “many assisted living facilities are taking residents who have no business being there”. Article also states “Not surprisingly, consumer complaints about assisted living are on the rise, according to long-term care ombudsmen, trained advocates who operate in all 50 states”.
My in-laws are aging in place, with some resources coming in. They financially cannot afford assisted living, nor do they want to go anywhere else while both are living and doing OK in their home. BIL or us will probably have one move in with us after one passes - they can manage together, but not living alone. Actually FIL cannot manage living alone, and MIL wouldn’t want to live alone.
Article also states “Today about 60% of residential care communities provide a dementia are program. And almost one-quarter of assisted living communities maintain a dedicated floor or wing for memory care…, according to the CDC”.
Article has a page with a US map “What Care Costs State by State”.
I’m looking at the tracking maps for Irma, which is now has the highest winds of any hurricane in the Atlantic ever, and is headed directly for the Virgin Islands, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and southern Florida.
Given warming seas and the potential for more powerful storms in the future, I’m wondering if anyone who was considering retiring to South Florida or the Caribbean is having second thoughts about living in that area.
@notrichenough We used to think we would retire to Florida after living there a few times over the course of husband’s career but we have definitely reconsidered. Once, we had to evacuate for a hurricane and got stuck in gridlocked traffic with the hurricane quickly approaching. We had to turn around and fortunately made it back to our house and rode the hurricane out there. I can’t imagine doing that now that we are older.
Two generations of my family have retired in Florida. I once thought it was an option. I wouldn’t consider it now. It’s not just hurricanes. The polar ice caps are melting. Sea level rise is inevitable at this point, even if we take drastic measures to curb greenhouse gas emissions, which we’re not doing—which will only make it faster and more severe. Much of Florida is just a few feet above sea level. Coastal flooding, saltwater intrusion into aquifers, extreme heat events, you name it—it’s all coming to Florida.
Interesting article on estate planning:
http://www.aarp.org/money/taxes/info-2016/celebrity-estate-mistakes-photo.html
Not sure how I feel about this:
Reynolds runs an investment company, so of course he is against anything that will lower the amount of money invested.
But for most people, Roths are a losing proposition. Forcing everyone into a Roth in order to collect a few more tax dollars now seems short-sighted.
Quiet bunch these days… 
I like to use podcasts when I walk or run. My favorite is Freakonomics … but I’ve had to add other options too (TED Radio, Serial - season 1, Malcolm Gladwell etc). This week I’ve started to listening to some of the “Retirement Starts Today” podcasts. Most are about 20 minutes long, and they are interesting. Thought I’d post here in case others are looking for more ideas for podcasts …
http://retirementstartstodayradio.com/podcasts/
For those that prefer online / reading… there is a blog too - http://retirementstartstodayradio.com/blog/