Most people who plan to retire on Cape Cod have already made the decision. They’ve been vacationing in Brewster for twenty years, or they own a place in Falmouth they’ve been renting out, or there’s a family house in Chatham that’s going to pass down. The question isn’t whether. It’s when, and what it costs. Here’s where I see plans break: people assume that selling the house they raised their kids in and moving to the Cape will free up cash. Sometimes it does. Often it does the opposite —...

If you're anywhere close to retirement, somebody has probably tried to scare you about RMDs. You know the pitch. Your required withdrawals are going to rocket you into a higher bracket, tax your Social Security, spike your Medicare premiums — and the only way out, conveniently, is whatever that person happens to be selling that afternoon. Here's the honest version: some of it is true, for some people. Some retirees really do have an RMD tax problem. Some have a small one with easy fixes. And...

The difference between retiring at 61 and grinding it out until Medicare at 65 can come down to a single number on your tax return. Get that number wrong, and health insurance before Medicare can cost you up to $24,000 a year more than it has to. Get it right, and the bridge to 65 is a lot shorter than you think. I'm Joe Boughan, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® here in Scituate, and I see this constantly with near-retirees across the many public biotechnology and technology firms in the area:...