Dear Edith: I'm looking to retire in ten years. Should I buy my retirement home (12 hours away) with a mortgage now, or wait until I retire and pay cash? How do you figure the expenses compared with appreciation? -- L.S.

Answer: What would you do with that retirement home during the 10-year wait? You certainly wouldn't want the place vacant all that time, so do you plan to rent it out? It's not easy to be an absentee landlord, but it is easy to get into trouble that way.

Of course, th ...

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