Retirement Planning This Year: Is Your Home Retirement Ready?
Thinking about retirement planning this year? As we age, our living situation becomes a big question mark. From home to retirement communities, there are plenty of options for housing when it comes to retirees.
In fact, a recent MarketWatch report found that 90% of Americans prefer to retire and live in their own homes. But is your home retirement ready?
Retirement Planning This Year
For those retirement planning this year, getting a home ‘retirement ready’ means converting it into a viable option that fits your budget, your lifestyle, your future needs, and your health requirements moving forward.
3 Things to Consider When Retirement Planning This Year
When it comes time to thinking about retirement planning this year, assess the following criteria to assess its viability:
1. Finances
The first thing most people think of when retirement planning this year is also one of the most important: Can you afford to live in your house throughout retirement? Consider maintenance costs, upkeep, and the costs of adapting it to fit changing health needs (ramps, stairs, installing additional equipment).
Without your standard income, can you continue to afford the costs that come with homeownership?
2. Where Do You Want to Live?
In general, be sure that your current home is where you want to be for the long haul when retirement planning this year. As you consider to age, would you prefer to find a warmer climate? How about living closer to others around the same age group? What about the importance of living closer to family?
3. Changing Needs in Health and Lifestyle
Many of those analyzing retirement planning this year are concentrating on their health and lifestyle needs. For many, this revolves around money.
Whether it's installing home modifications, needing barrier free walkways, not being able to go upstairs, or using different floorings for grip, adapting your home to fit changing health needs is expensive, stressful, and time consuming.
Do you have all that is needed to make these changes? Can your home support them even if you do?
Retirement comes with many decisions and choosing where you want to live out your post-workdays is an important one. Use these tips and questions to help make an informed decision that works best for you and your family.
Getting your home retirement ready can be quite challenging. For legal guidance when retirement planning this year, contact the real estate attorney at Lee Scott Perres, P.C.
