“Bradenton is still a paradise,” Bradenton Mayor Wayne Poston said. “The housing market has adjusted so we are more competitive with other communities and the Baby Boomers are still retiring daily and looking for a friendly community in which to spend their new lives. We already knew Bradenton is one of the best places on earth to retire, but it is nice to be recognized.”

According to Where to Retire editor, Mary Lu Abbott, many popular retirement cities currently have historically low housing prices, while other smaller towns boast a stable market with good seller incentives.

“Amid the miles of Gulf Coast beaches and the prime amenities of Sarasota-Bradenton, FL, housing prices have dropped 30-40 percent since 2005,” she wrote.

The magazine was launched in 1992 with the goal of helping its readers find the ideal place to retire. Now published six times a year, the magazine covers the best retirement regions, towns, and master-planned communities, and has a national average circulation of 220,000 and an average readership of 500,000.

This isn’t the first time Bradenton has been recognized by a national magazine this year for its quality of life.

Art Calendar magazine’s March edition named Bradenton one of the country’s Top 10 cities for working artists because of the Village of the Arts, a downtown-area neighborhood where special zoning laws allow artists and other craftspeople to live and operate small businesses, like art galleries, from their homes.

In the May/June issue of Going Places, AAA’s traveler’s guide that profiles popular vacation destinations around the country, Bradenton was recognized as a “sunny waterside town that boasts a unique collection of museums and marinas … and one of the state’s most vibrant artists’ communities (the Village of the Arts),” along with abundant fishing, beaches and beautiful sunsets.

For many retirees, a second home can offer a way to stay in a comfortable and familiar neighborhood and at the same time offer an opportunity to start out on a new adventure in a new home in a new destination.

Florida has been the destination of choice for American retirees for many years and its popularity continues to gain momentum, with 1100 persons a day moving permanently to enjoy the all important sunshine.

Buying a second home can also make a centerpiece to your retirement plan. It forces you to make regular savings in the form of mortgage payments that become your equity.

You only need cash for the down payment, and you should make sure that your monthly rental payments will cover the mortgage and any additional expenses. This is a real possibility if you buy the right house at the right price because a good single-family house should always stay rented. Your investment money is subject to less income tax, and the interest and property taxes may be deductible.

Preparing for retirement? What to do with your mortgage?

It is believed that the perfect situation to be in when it is time for retirement is to be free of debts. But nowadays this often seems to be impossible.

Here are some things to consider when deciding what to do with your mortgage during retirement:

In performing a cost-benefit analysis you need to look at where the money you´ll use to pay off your mortgage is coming from and what that money could be used for instead. You need to consider that your financial picture might be brighter by not paying off your mortgage!

For example: Instead of paying off your mortgage at 6 % you could put that money in an investment portfolio that earns 8 %. In this case, it would make sense to keep your mortgage. If you are risk-adverse and put more money in bonds, your guaranteed lower rate of return may indicate that it is better for you to pay off the mortgage.

Another thing to consider is the possibility of tax implications. The interest portion of mortgage payments is tax-deductible. So you should take into account if you are able to benefit from this tax-deduction.

In conclusion, you have to consider how tolerant of risk you are and what other factor should take influence on your decision.