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Once you have retired, it might make sense to downsize your home. After all, the kids don’t live there anymore, you aren’t tied to the location you work in, and you want a break from all the housework and maintenance you have been doing for years. Choosing the right retirement plan and where to live may not feel like an easy decision, however, a good retirement planning app can help you figure all of this out as stress-free as possible. Here are some of the things you might want to consider.
Location
Technically, you can live anywhere in the world once you have retired. These days, nothing is out of reach, and you could enjoy a better standard of living in another country or another state. If this is your dream, then go for it.
If you are undecided you might want to consider how practical it might be to move a long way from friends and family, for example, will you be lonely, miss out on watching your grandchildren grow, and what happens if you get sick? These are all important considerations when choosing your new home.
Amenities
Once you have chosen the location such as your preferred country or state you then need to consider what amenities you want to live nearby. If you want to enjoy some peace, there is no point in moving to the center of New York. However, even if you do want to be out of the way, are there amenities that you can’t live without such as a local shop, bar, or gym?
Community
A sense of community may not have mattered to you so much when you were working, as you weren’t home much, but once you have time on your hands it could become important to you to live among friends or like-minded people.
If you don’t want the hassle of moving again as you age it is a good idea to consider a community like St Louis Hills Senior Living. You can be as actively retired as you want to be but there are trained medical staff to assist you as you get older.
Space
Once you know exactly where you want to live, consider how much space you need. You may have decided that you want your new home to be as small as possible to save you a lot of work but think about how practical that might be. You might want the family to visit you often, which means that you will need a spare bedroom, perhaps you would like to keep your own bathroom when they do. If you are a keen gardener, you might not want to lose too much of your outside space.
Essential
Write a list of all the things you can’t live without in your new home but be prepared to compromise. It might be that you find the perfect home with one or two of your essentials missing. Think about whether you would still want to move into this house or look for somewhere else. You will have a better idea of your essentials once you start looking.
Follow this guide to help you choose the right home to downsize into when the time comes and have a happy retirement.