Children have grown up and emptied the nest.. tick, both your partner and yourself have retired from paid employment…. tick, now you can decide whether the home you have been living in as a family is fit for purpose going forward. Often once the family downsizes to one or two individuals a stand-alone home can seem sprawling and much of its space remains unused. What options may be available for couples or singles at this stage of their life?
Photo by Jacques Bopp on Unsplash
Here are some possible alternatives: –
- Stay in your family home and age in place
- Move in with adult children or have them move in with you
- Downsize into a villa or apartment
- Move into a retirement or lifestyle village for over 55’s
- Live in a mobile home e.g. a caravan or motor home
A novel approach is to combine a selection of the options above, giving the flexibility to experience a variety of living arrangements over time. Let’s check out the possibilities of each option.
Stay in your family home
Before deciding to sell up and move to a new location, it is worth considering if it is possible to age in place. The benefit of staying in your family home is the familiarity of your surroundings, your neighbourhood and local community. If at a later stage additional assistance is required, outside help can be sourced. This may be for cooking, cleaning, and gardening. You get the benefit of staying in your home with the perks of maintenance outsourced.
If the home is older or has stairs and narrow hallways to navigate it may be worth considering a change. Maintenance costs can increase in older homes and personal needs may change requiring more open spaces. If funds are available, renovation is possible. This can be a costly exercise depending on what is required. Try to think ahead to possible future scenarios if this option is favored.
Inter-generational Living
As life stages progress a possible solution for additional support is moving in with adult children. Alternatively, they can move back into the family home. This option requires some conscious planning and discussion particularly around privacy and expectations of physical and financial contribution. Generations living within the same property can be a cost-effective option for managing financially and convenient assistance with care. An alternative to consider if you get on well with your children, their partners and enjoy the company and energy level of your grandchildren.
Downsizing
This option works well if you can find a location that ticks the boxes of convenience, facilities, and a certain level of space. When you have been living in a large home, an apartment or villa may feel cramped and perhaps a bit claustrophobic. Look for good common spaces such as pools, gyms and roof top or interior gardens. Consider if the surrounding area offers what you need. Proximity to shopping, entertainment and public transport is a factor. A suggestion is to ‘try before you buy’ if other apartments or villas in the complex are available for holiday letting. You will soon get an idea of space, noise, and functionality.
Lifestyle or Retirement Villages
This has become a popular choice in recent times. Specifically catering for the Over 55 market, these smaller home villages provide low maintenance living. Common facilities are usually well resourced, gardens are often maintained and they are usually pet friendly. A positive aspect of this option is the sense of connection and social activities available within these communities. Interest groups, outings and events make these an enjoyable and busy place to live.
This option may not suit those who value their privacy. While it is enjoyable to live among people of a similar stage of life, over time the population of the village ages. A further move to a nursing home may need to be considered in future if it is not available on site. With the age of residents, talk of ailments and illness can be common topics of conversation. If this option is chosen, it may be prudent to keep ties with the wider community through activities and events. It continues to be healthy to interact with families and children.
Live in a Mobile Home
Caravans, motor homes and even houseboats are enjoyable considerations for retirement living. The flexibility of location is enticing. Here in Australia it is common to see these mobile versions of ‘home’ travelling around the country. Their occupants are coined ‘Grey Nomads’. In addition, this lifestyle is cost effective and simple, allowing for a relaxed lifestyle. Some locations in Australia allow for free camping and long or short-term residency in idyllic locations allows for free spirited exploration of the country. There are always interesting people to meet along the way.
Like any form of housing there is inevitably maintenance or damage issues that arise. As a vehicle they also won’t hold their monetary value over time. This is more likely with brick and mortar options.
Combining Options
A novel and interesting approach is to combine more than one of the above options. This can evolve over time as needs and finances change. In our case we rented out our private home while we travelled extensively in our motor home. We have retained our motor home on our return and it now provides an income for us as a rental to others. Another ‘try before you buy’ option. Camplify is a wonderful Australian organisation for this option.
Recently we have used the finances from an investment property to buy an apartment as a base closer to our children, their partners, and our grandchildren. We hope this gives us the best of both worlds – spending some of the year close to family and other times enjoying our hometown community. It helps that both locations offer different climates and options to explore. Like the ‘snowbirds’ of the United States we will be following the weather.
The retirement years are an opportunity to reassess our living arrangements. We have the opportunity to remain in place transitioning through modifications and care and maintenance plans. Alternatively, we can look at changing location either temporarily or permanently to make the most of what this stage of life has to offer. Most options provide the opportunity to try before you buy. Share your thoughts on what you would choose, or have chosen, in the comments.