What "Retire" Meant
By JULIE PACE - The Tampa Tribune
Published September 21, 2006
TAMPA - Florida drew retirees for generations
with its reputation for low costs and sunny skies.
The sun is still shining, but the state's
low-cost reputation is increasingly undeserved.
The rising cost of necessities has senior
citizens filling their leisure years with part-time work instead of golf and
beach days. Housing costs in the Tampa Bay area are up 25 percent compared with
last year. The price of gasoline is up more than 20 cents a gallon on average.
Experts say the trend of seniors continuing to
work or returning to work will continue. Whether that will affect who moves here
remains to be seen.
Dolores Anderson didn't plan to be still
working at age 72. She owned a successful building supply company and counted on
living off her savings.
In the late 1990s, a dip in the stock market
cost Anderson half her nest egg. About three years ago, she started to feel the
burden of rising taxes and insurance rates.
Anderson needed a job.
The former business owner now works 24 to 30
hours a week as a cashier at the Publix at Neptune Street and Dale Mabry
Highway. A company plan for part-time employees allows Anderson to receive
dental benefits and build a 401(k).
"Now I'm planning for my next retirement," she
said.
Anderson is one of 4.1 million Floridians
older than 60 who have seen the cost of living rise rapidly. Many retirees cite
the soaring cost of homeowners insurance as the main source of their financial
woes.
Jay Guy, 71, owns a modest, 1,200-square-foot
home in St. Petersburg. When he bought the house in 2003, his homeowners
insurance cost about $700.
This year, he is paying $2,761.
That's one of the reasons Guy is working as a
guest services representative at Tropicana Field. He greets fans during every
Tampa Bay Devil Rays home game while putting extra money in his pocket.
"I just can't live off what I retired with 10
years ago," the former insurance agent said.
Retirees coming behind him express the same
sentiment. A recent AARP study showed that 70 percent of people nearing
retirement age plan to work at least part time.
Nationwide, the number of people in the labor
force older than 55 is expected to rise from 23 million in 2004 to 34 million in
2014, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show.
It is too early to tell whether the cost of
living increases will affect the number of retirees moving to Florida, said
Bentley Lipscomb, director of Florida AARP.
"A lot of the qualities that brought people
here in the past still exist today," Lipscomb said.
However, the Sunshine State is losing its
luster in some circles. When Money magazine recently released its 2006 list of
the best places to retire, no Florida cities made the cut.
Instead, the magazine singled out new
retirement hot spots, including Walla Walla, Wash., and St. Simons Island in
Georgia
Bradenton and Sarasota made the Money magazine
list in the past.
Guy does not plan to let his expenses push him
out of Florida. He enjoys his job at the ballpark and likes the chance to be
part of the atmosphere during games.
Still, Guy knows full-time retirement is not
an option here. "I've got to keep working," he said. "I don't have any choice."
Reporter Julie Pace can be reached at (813)
865-1505 or jpace@tampatrib.com.
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