Our retirement years mark a period of change. Studies show, that taking a proactive approach to retirement can have many benefits to support our aging process. For most that means making a move to an active living community. According to a 2018 Transamerica Center for Retirement Research report, 4 in 10 retirees have made a move, 51% of whom “downsized.” The bottom line, you are not alone if you’re contemplating a move for the future. Our homes and neighborhoods have long supported and nurtured us in our careers and growing families, but as we age, and our kids move away we find our sanctuary to be a lonely place. In your neighborhoods people have come and gone, and many leave for the day to go to work. Choosing to stay in your house is only going to isolate your further and our homes only age with us. Expensive repairs and constant maintenance costs can add up. When you reach the ‘a-ha!’ moment of realizing its time for change, the next roadblock is-what on earth do I do with all this stuff! Downsizing is a life transition.
Imagine the freedom to travel and visit family and friends without worrying about who’s looking out for your house and things. Moving to a community like Shaker Pointe means, your neighbors are just like you sharing many of your interests and retirement goals. In an article for AARP, the Executive Director of the National Association of Senior Move Managers, Mary Kay Buysse offers great insight. She states, “Downsizing tends to be more successful when downsizers are making a conscious decision about how they want to live their lives.” All our adult years we’ve reached milestones that have propelled us forward, when it’s time to downsize we’re suddenly being pulled in the opposite direction. This pull is bound to create some anxiety, but don’t let that paralyze you from making the decision to get started on ‘Rightsizing’ your life. We often hear that downsizing is the biggest obstacle for someone making the move to Shaker Pointe. It’s important to realize you can’t let your ‘stuff’ dictate how you want to live in retirement.
AARP cited four valuable tips to help insure a smoother transition to a smaller home.
- Recognize your feelings, whatever they are. Going through your personal items is bound to set you on a journey down memory lane. Whether good or bad it’s important to identify and try to understand where these feeling are coming from.
- Focus on what you’ll gain rather than what you’re losing. If you’re making the move to an active lifestyle community like Shaker Pointe there is quite a bit that you will gain. Picture yourself taking an aqua aerobics class in the morning, visiting the Clark Museum for lunch or catching a new movie with friends. Take your taste-buds on a journey with our Chef prepared themed dining. You’ll have a whole host of invigorating experiences and amenities at your fingertips.
- While sorting, enlist help from a family member, trusted friend or professional. Sometimes you need that outside eye to help you navigate through the emotional task of sorting through your memories.
- Start with the least emotional area of your home first. By accomplishing one closet or one drawer at a time, your giving yourself the necessary time to get though all your possessions. Don’t leave any room for regrets and reward yourself for your accomplishments. Breaking free from your possessions is guaranteed to make you feel powerful.