It’s a stressful process – but it’s one that many of us do multiple times through our life. Furthermore, when the elusive retirement age nears, more people tend to take the plunge again.
It would be fair to say that there are several additional considerations to take into account if you are thinking about moving in your post-retirement life. Gone are the days where you need to tick all of the famous family home checklists, such as researching the local schools and so on. While the standard moving house checklist will apply from a practical perspective, there are other burning questions you need to answer. Today’s guide is all about mulling over these.
The downsizing equation
Once upon a time, downsizing almost always followed any conversation surrounding retirement. Now, things are changing.
Put simply, it doesn’t always make financial sense for some people to downsize their home. However, for others it can prove to be the opposite – and result in a monumental financial windfall.
Let’s not forget that unless you have family who are staying with you, you probably don’t need a home as large as you have lived in for most of your life. It means that you can move to a smaller home, and cash in on the supposed difference.
Again, you need to do the math before taking this decision. As the link from the Times showed, in more difficult financial periods downsizing is not always prudent.
The long-term factor
This next point focuses around mobility. This is something that you are unlikely to have considered in the past, and something that some people who have just retired don’t really want to consider now either. However, try and be practical and understand the long-term implications of your prospective home.
Like it or not, we all give into age. It means that over time, and this might be decades down the line, we need our house to help us. If you currently live in a three-story home, on the top of a hill, this might be difficult to handle as age catches up with you.
While a bungalow is the stereotypical decision, it’s not the only choice. The point we’re trying to make is that this could be your forever home and as such, you need to take a truly long-term view of it.
The social situation
Finally, let’s talk about the social situation of moving. This arrives in two strands.
The first is how close you are to other people and local amenities. If we return to the example in the previous section, about age catching up with you, being close to local stores and cafes can be crucial and provide independence.
Then, it’s onto the family. Once again, as you get older, they become even more important. Like it or not, you will start to rely on them more, so take this into account from a logistical point of view. The last thing you need is to be hours away from them and while you probably shouldn’t live on top of each other, having them nearby will generally result in a much happier and easier life.
