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Hopefully, you can consider your retirement a new beginning. The freedom from having to report to work every day may give you more time to pursue varied interests and enjoy a life without work-related stress. In order to make retirement even more comfortable, many retirees decide to downsize. Keeping some things that made sense during the years when people raised kids, worked on a career, and tried to accumulate assets may not really make sense during retirement years.
What does downsizing mean?
Some people consider downsizing a negative thing. They look at it like a loss or failure. However, most prudent seniors see sensible downsizing as a very positive way to free up funds, make life less complicated, and relieve themselves from stress and obligations. The right way to downsize depends upon the individual situation. You need to consider taking the actions that make sense for you.
Downsizing a home
Your large house that was located near a school was probably a great investment when your kids lived at home, but does it still make sense? If your children come to visit once or twice a year, you might be able to put them up in a decent hotel for a lot less than you spend on maintaining your big home. It might be time to move on and leave that home for another growing family.
When you downsize, you might enjoy smaller housing payments, utility bills and maintenance costs. However, you still have to live somewhere, so you need to compare the real cost of alternative housing against what you pay now. If you can sell your home for a profit, you might enjoy a more comfortable retirement by investing the funds in a retirement annuity. You have to balance that extra income against rent or mortgage payments that you might need to pay elsewhere.
Heirlooms and sentimental objects
Do you have furniture or jewelry passed down from others in your family? You might figure that you will hold onto it until it gets passed on to your heirs after you die. However, you may actually enjoy the satisfaction of passing some of these things on now to your children and grandchildren.
Household contents
Is your adult child’s bedroom set still in the attic or even in his or her vacated bedroom? If you don’t need some of your household items any more, you might donate them for a tax deduction, sell them in a garage sale, or find a friend or family member who is just starting out and may need items to furnish their new digs.
Once you clear up some more space in your home, you may find it more comfortable. You might even explore the option of taking in a boarder to help defray household expenses.
Do you need help planning for your comfortable retirement? We can help. At Trusted Senior Specialists, our professional licensed sales agents are eager to help you understand your Medicare and life insurance needs.
