Category Archives: Senior Living / Retirement

By Christine Graf

Although the U.S. economy remains strong, August’s job report has some Wall Street analysts worried. Economists expected 175,000 jobs to be added to the U.S. economy, but data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the jobs number to be 114,000. Unemployment also inched up, rising from 4.1 percent to 4.3 percent.

“In the last several weeks, we have had some weaker than expected economic data,” said Ryan Bouchey, chief investment officer at Bouchey Financial Group, an investment management company with 20 employees and offices in Saratoga Springs, Troy, Boston, and Florida.

“People have been getting high yields on money markets and cash—in some cases over five percent–but with some of this weaker than expected economic data, the anticipation now is for the Fed to lower rates by seventy-five basis points to one hundred basis points before the end of the year,” he said.

The anticipated rate decrease will impact investors whose fixed income strategies have relied on high yield money markets and short-term CDs

“2022 was a terrible year for fixed income, but during the last twelve to eighteen months we’ve been at the highest level for fixed income yields in twenty years or so,” said Bouchey. “It was a great opportunity to lock in intermediate to longer- term rates, but that’s not going to work heading into 2025. In the current environment, those folks who have been sitting on cash–trying to get the highest yield–need to start thinking about what their  longer-term strategy is. Because it’s pretty imminent that the Fed will be cutting rates.”

By Christine Graf

More and more Americans are taking to the roads in RVs, with upwards of 45 million people vacationing in RVs this summer. More than 11 million households own recreational vehicles, and approximately 1 million Americans live in their vehicles full time. 

According to industry statistics, RV sales are strongest among the 55-64 age group, this demographic representing 20 percent of all sales. Millennials (ages 18-34) come in second, accounting for 15 percent of purchases. Tied for third at 13 percent are the 65-plus age group and the 35-44 age bracket.

“Age 50-plus is the sweetest spot for us for sure,” said Andy Heck, president of Alpin Haus. “But 35 to 50 is also doing well. Things do tail off at 65-plus.”

Established by Heck’s father, Bud Heck, and his friend John Daly, Alpin Haus opened its first store in Amsterdam in 1964. Today, the family-owned business has 275 employees spread across six locations. Stores offering RVs are located in Amsterdam, Saratoga, Orange County, and Oak Ridge, New Jersey. 

“We started as a ski shop and then got into selling RVS. Then, we added swimming pools and in the late 90s, we started adding locations,” said Heck.

By Christopher K. Kelly

Small business owners in New York face many decisions each day. Being part of a community bank, it’s not uncommon for us to be involved in conversations on how to best attract, retain, and take care of employees in terms of compensation, health benefits, vacation, and retirement.  This last item, retirement and financial security, is an increasingly common topic of interest. In our discussions with workers in New York, most understand there is a need for them to be saving for retirement. They know that people are living longer (meaning income will be needed for a longer period of time), Social Security benefits will not meet their income needs, and health insurance in retirement will be a significant expense.  These conversations often lead to two questions: (1) Does the employer offer a retirement plan and (2) Does the employee have the capacity to make saving for retirement a priority in their budget?  

Over the past several years, there has been an increased effort at the state and federal levels to help small businesses provide their employees access to a retirement savings plan. Small business owners have a variety of retirement plans to choose from, including: 401(k), 403(b), Profit Sharing, Pension Plans, SIMPLE IRAs, and SEPs.  Each of these programs offers its own set of features, requirements, varying complexity, and administrative costs. Knowing which type of retirement plan to implement is not an easy task, and often leads to no selection at all. The result is that many workers in New York are still not covered by an employer-sponsored retirement plan.

In an effort to give more employees access to a retirement plan, many state governments have developed their own programs. While these retirement programs differ by state, the common features include: mandates for businesses to participate based the number of employees, automatic enrollment for employees to save 3 to 5 percent of their pay into a Roth IRA, the ability for an employee to opt-out of saving, designated investment options, and low administrative fees.  

By Matthew Burnell

A key term often heard in investing is “asset allocation”. In simple terms this refers to the percentage of holdings in an investment portfolio to stocks, bonds, and cash. 

Using these broad categories, asset allocation reflects the amount of market risk an investor is comfortable with and is not static over time. Stocks have historically had the greatest risk and highest returns among the three major asset categories. 

Bonds are generally less volatile than stocks but typically offer more modest returns. Cash and cash equivalents such as savings deposits, certificates of deposit, treasury bills, money market deposit accounts, and money market funds are the safest investments, but offer the lowest return of the three major asset categories.

A major factor in the market risk one can tolerate is the investors time horizon. If an investor is young and plans to work for many more years, then typically they are willing to take on more market risk in hopes of better returns. In this case, stocks would be a larger percentage of their portfolio. 

Alternatively, if an investor is closer to retirement, then typically they will have less tolerance for market risk (i.e. more risk averse) since they will be using their retirement assets to fund living expenses in the near future. The more risk-averse an investor is, the more they will want to be invested in “safer” assets, like high-quality bonds and cash. Recommendations vary, but often it is strategic to have a year or two of expenses in cash to begin retirement. 

Tying this to today’s economy, if someone retired at the end of 2021 and needed to take funds from their investment portfolio to live off, they would likely be selling assets at a loss due to the down market.  If they had cash to cover this year’s expenses, this would allow them to stay invested in hopes for a market rebound before raising cash from these assets. In this scenario it would not be prudent to be 100 percent in stocks at the end of 2021 if you were planning to retire at years end and use these funds to supplement retirement income. 

By Christine Graf

Of the more than one million Americans who have died from COVID-19, a staggering 23 percent were residents of long-term care facilities. According to Brian Nealon, CEO of the Wesley Community, these sobering statistics have impacted the way Americans view nursing homes.

“People are looking to age in place even more so than they did prior to the beginning of the pandemic. It’s about ‘How do I stay at home longer?’ It could be the family home that they have been in for 50 years or it could be at one of our apartments at Woodlawn Commons or Embury.”

Located on Lawrence Street in Saratoga Springs, Woodlawn Commons offers 60 market-rate independent senior living apartments as well as 40 assisted living units. The neighboring Embury Apartments provides the local community with 192 subsidized senior apartments. Both complexes are currently at full capacity.

The Wesley Community also has a skilled nursing facility that provides both long-term care as well as short-term rehabilitation. They also offer home care through Wesley Senior Solutions and outpatient physical/occupational/speech therapy through Wesley Outpatient Therapy.  

By Jill Nagy

Area senior centers are open and busy as COVID-19 safety guidelines eased up . Members are returning for exercise classes, meals, games, trips, and, most of all, the chance to socialize after over a year of isolation, officials say.

At the Clifton Park Senior Community Center, dances are back but live music will have to wait until September, officials said. At the Saratoga Senior Center, art classes art full and demand is great for exercise classes and anything including food, especially Friday barbecues in the tents behind the building.

At the Queensbury Senior Center, there is a waiting list for some classes and others are full. Seniors at the Glens Falls Senior Center had their first trip of the season, to a youth theater performance at Lake George, at the beginning of August, but as a precaution, only six passengers were allowed in a 12-passenger van.

On the whole, center directors report a slow but steady return of their members and attendance at about half the volume they were used to before the pandemic. Saratoga, for example, hosts about 70 seniors a day, compared to 130-150 a day before the height of the pandemic. But, according to director Lois Celeste, “each month, we keep adding.”

The centers never completely closed during the pandemic. They provided take-out meals and delivered groceries and medications; conducted online and outdoor programs; and made an effort to keep in touch with members. On the whole, staff worked from home and no one had to be laid off.

By Jenna Burger
You and your spouse got married, bought a home, and raised three beautiful children. You’ve lived and loved your home for 30 years, but the kids have moved out and started their own families.
Now you’re living in the 2,500 square foot home, half of which you don’t use other than the five times a year when “the kids” come to visit. The question arises, why do we have all this space when most of it rarely gets used? Does it make sense to downsize? What opportunities can come about if we let this large home go? What are the pros and cons of downsizing as we are planning on retirement?
There is a lot to consider with downsizing. Whether a house, townhome, or apartment, moving to a smaller space can have its challenges, but if planned well, the next chapter of your life can bring less maintenance and more fun. When relocating to a space that is a fraction of the size, there is a great likelihood that you’ll need to reduce the amount of furniture and decor that has been collected over the years.