Where you will live in retirement is a question worth careful consideration. We keep hearing that retirement is getting further out of reach of many seniors and many retirees are not retiring with the original plans they made intact. A financial plan that they may have thought would give them a decent standard of living through their retirement years. Where you live can be a huge factor in how you’ll live!
If you are over 50 you know that you’ll have some major changes ahead of you and you’ll probably have already figured it out that the older you get the faster time seems to go by, keeping that in mind it’s best to plan ahead of retirement where and how you will live to get the most benefit or at least what you hope will be your retirement date.
For many seniors there will be lifestyles changes ahead that will probably mean downsizing your living space and having one that is more adaptable to your needs and personal lifestyle. Besides the practical logistics there’s the financial aspect too, you’ll most likely want or need to reduce your living costs. A lot of people wait until they are past really benefiting from making a sensible living plan, they stay in a home that is too big, needs too much care and attention and eats up too much of their income until one day they are forced to make the move. Some struggle with the maintenance of the home until they can no longer physically do it, others scrimp and save and go without necessities to pay higher bills that are unnecessary when they could have been living more comfortably. It is important to look at the big picture and don’t put off something that can make all the difference to your future.
By the time you reach your sixties it’s a good idea to have a plan in place that will suit your needs for the coming years. It’s not only the size of the accommodation you should think about but also where you want to be located or where you can afford to live. Do you have family members or friends that you would like to live close to? Are you dreaming of a totally different place to live, somewhere where the sun shines a lot more often, where the cost of living is lower, where you can have a good standard of living on the income you will have available? A lot of your decisions will depend on the type of person you are. Some people like the idea of a totally new start and others like the familiar security that they have always known. Some people have close family ties and want to remain near their family others either have no family or are not so bothered about the distance between them. There are a lot of things to consider and access to affordable medical services is one of them. This is especially important as you get older.
Always try to keep an eye on the current situations with real estate and your financial portfolio if you have one. You can’t afford to take your eye off the ball because things can change quickly which so many seniors have already discovered in such a way that it has totally waylaid their plans for retirement. Funds that they thought they would be able to rely on are no longer there. If you happen to be living in an area where real estate prices are high you may want to sell up and look at another state where you can get back into the market at a much lower cost. This may allow you to have money over to help with your everyday living expenses or to afford to do some of the things you want to do. Many people sell and don’t purchase another place they rent. Renting can make a lot more sense, you have to work out what is best for you.
Here are 5 things you should do…
• Set out a budget for yourself. What will your requirements be? What can you live without? What do you have to have and if possible what would you like to have.
• Given the choice where would you like to live?
• What are your present expenses?
• If you are going to sell your home find out what it could sell for in the present market. Also is there anything that needs to be done to your property in order for you to get the best price.
• Keep in mind the hidden costs in selling and buying a home.
If you plan ahead you’ll know what to expect within reason. This way if things take a sudden change you will be better prepared if you have to do something in a hurry.
More and more seniors still have fairly high mortgage payments on their homes whereas many expected to be mortgage free by the time they retired.