If you’re nearing retirement age, you’re probably thinking about what life will look like once you’ve stopped working full time. There are many benefits to retiring—like more time to spend on your hobbies and with people you love—but there’s also the uncertainty of living on a fixed income. One great way to save money during retirement is by moving to a smaller home. Here are some of the benefits of downsizing.
If you’re still making mortgage payments after retirement, downsizing may be a good idea to lower your monthly payments, or maybe even eliminate your mortgage completely. Reducing your mortgage burden means you’ll have more funds to dedicate to other expenses.
When thinking about downsizing, be sure to consider how much equity you have in the home, what the housing market looks like at the time and how long you might stay in your new home. If you’ve already paid off your mortgage, it may make sense to stay where you are, or you may decide to make a profit off of the sale of your home.
Smaller homes also come with reduced utility costs. You’re paying for every inch of unused space in your home through heating and cooling, electricity, gas, water, and even internet access. The smaller your square footage, the less space you have to heat and power in order to live comfortably.
With a smaller living space, you can also cut down on costs like lawn care and cleaning services. Larger homes require more maintenance and general upkeep, so by downsizing you can cut those costs, or even eliminate them altogether.
Besides the required expenses to keep your home in a livable condition, you may be spending money on expenses like furniture, art or other home decor items. In a larger home, you’ll have room to fill with unnecessary items, but downsizing will force you to live a simpler life. You’ll have less room to decorate and fill with furniture, so you’ll likely spend less on excess decor.
Your job may have been in or near a major metropolitan area but once you retire, you won’t be tied to that location for work. Looking for a less expensive location with a less expensive cost of living when you downsize is a great way to maximize the money you spend on a new home. Even if you’d like to stay close to family and friends, you’ll have the flexibility to look for homes that may be a bit farther away now that you don’t have to worry about a commute.
If you’re open to living in a different location entirely, you may want to do some research on locations with low costs of living. Having a smaller home in an area with a low cost of living will leave you with more funds to do the things you love and take advantage of all the free time you have during retirement.
Another important advantage to downsizing is being able to buy a home that’s accessible as you get older. You may not have mobility issues now, but you may develop them in the future. Instead of worrying about how to finance a home renovation to fit your accessibility needs down the line, downsizing allows you to buy a home that’s already fit for whatever may come in the future. Look for homes with minimal stairs, wide doorways, and open floor plans.
Thinking about moving can be daunting, especially if you’ve spent many years in your current home. If you’re wondering whether downsizing is right for you, talk with a financial professional to make a plan to fit your needs in retirement.
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About Us Welcome to Ona Solutions, where we specialize in providing housing for independent adults and assisting individuals in finding affordable housing options. Our dedicated team is committed to creating safe, supportive, and sustainable living environments that empower individuals to thrive. We operate with a foundation of compassion and a strong sense of community, working tirelessly to ensure everyone has access to a place they can call home. At Ona Solutions, we firmly believe that housing is a fundamental human right and strive to make this belief a reality for all.Mission At Ona Solutions, our mission is to transform lives by offering secure, affordable, and dignified housing solutions for independent adults and those seeking affordable living options. Our goal is to foster a supportive community where individuals can regain stability, independence, and hope. Through our dedicated efforts, we aim to address the housing deficit and ensure that every person we serve has the opportunity to lead a better, more fulfilling life.Vision Our vision at Ona Solutions is a world where affordable housing is accessible to all. We envision a society where everyone has a place to call home, enabling them to lead fulfilling and independent lives. By continuously innovating and advocating for sustainable housing solutions, we aspire to be a leader in creating lasting change and brighter futures for individuals and communities alike.Why Choose Ona Solutions?Commitment to Community: We prioritize creating a sense of belonging by fostering supportive and inclusive housing environments.Affordability: We are dedicated to providing cost-effective housing solutions to help individuals maintain financial stability.Sustainability: Our focus on sustainable practices ensures long-term housing security and positive environmental impact.Empowerment: We empower residents by offering resources and support systems that encourage personal growth and independence.Get Involved At Ona Solutions, we believe positive change happens when communities come together. Whether you are seeking affordable housing or want to support our mission, we welcome you to join our efforts in making housing accessible for all. Together, we can create a brighter future where everyone has a place to call home.
Sometimes it feels as if your bereavement will never end. You feel as if youd give anything to have the pain go away; to have the long lonely hours between nightfall and dawn pass without heartache. You are not the only grieving person who has longed for some measure of relief.In the novel, My Sisters Keeper, author Jodi Picoult wrote, There should be a statute of limitations on grief. A rule book that says it is all right to wake up crying, but only for a month. That after 42 days you will no longer turn with your heart racing, certain you have heard her call out your name.No such rule book exists. Grief counselors and therapists tell us that the length of time it takes anyone to grieve the loss of someone they held dear to them is dependent on the situation, how attached you were to the deceased, how they died, your age and gender. So many variables exist and theres absolutely no way to predict how long it will take for you to adapt to your loss.The Difference Between Normal and Complicated GriefResearch findings have led experts to come up with many differing categories of grief experience ranging from normal to complicated. Normal (or uncomplicated) grief has no timeline and encompasses a range of feelings and behaviors common after loss such as bodily distress, guilt, hostility, preoccupation with the image of the deceased, and the inability to function as one had before the loss. All are normal and present us with profound, and seemingly endless, challenges. Yet, Katherine Walsh says, Over the course of time, with average social supportmost individuals will gradually experience a diminishment of these feelings, behaviors, and sensations. So, how can you know if your bereavement is no longer within the range of normal? Ms. Walsh goes on to say, While there is no definitive time period by which this happens, if an individual or members of a family continue to experience distress intensely or for a prolonged periodor even unexpectedly years after a lossthey may benefit from treatment for complicated grief.A Useful Model for Assessment: Wordens Four Tasks of MourningThere are certain tasks that, when achieved during your bereavement, can successfully allow you to emerge on the other side of loss as a better, stronger, and more resilient individual. James Worden proposed these four tasks: To accept the reality of the loss To process the pain of grief To adjust to a world without the deceased To find an enduring connection with the deceased in the midst of embarking on a new life Instead of focusing on your bodily discomforts, feelings, and common behaviors, this model allows you to better see where you may be stuck or stalled in the adaptive process. Fortunately, Worden also gives us a list of indicators advising that "any one of these clues in and of itself may not be sufficient" for a diagnosis of complicated grief. "However," he continues, "any of theseshould be taken seriously, and the diagnosis of complicated grief should be considered when they appear."12 Clues... 12 InsightsWhile grief educators and theorists tell us that a diagnosis of complicated grief should not even be attempted until after the first anniversary of the death, if any one of the following symptomatic clues exists for longer than six months, you may want to consider grief counseling or grief therapy: You cannot speak of the deceased without experiencing intense and fresh grief long after the loss. A relatively minor event triggers an intense grief reaction. Your conversations with others are littered with references to loss. In other words, loss is an ever-present motif in your world view. You have issues related to your loved one's possessions. Keeping everything the same as before their death could indicate trouble just as tossing out everything right away can also be a clue to disordered mourning. (You also need to factor in your cultural and religious background) You have developed physical symptoms similar to those of the deceased before their death. Sometimes these symptoms recur annually, on the anniversary of the death, or on holidays. An increased susceptibility to illness or the development of a chronic physical complaint can also be an indicator. If you have made radical changes to your lifestyle, or excluded friends, family members, or even activities associated with the deceased, it may indicate unresolved grief. A long history of depression, often marked by guilt or low self-esteem, can reveal disordered mourning. The opposite is also true: a person experiencing a false sense of happiness or elation could be experiencing unresolved grief. A compulsion to imitate the deceased, in personality or behavior, can be a sign of complicated mourning. Having self-destructive impulses or exhibiting self-destructive behaviors can be significant. These can range from substance abuse, engaging in self-harm, developing eating disorders and suicidal tendencies. A sense of unexplained sadness occurring at a certain time each year (holidays, anniversaries, or birthdays) can also be a clue to unresolved grief. Developing a strong fear about dying, especially when it relates to the illness that took the life of your loved one, is an important clue. If you have avoided visiting your loved one's grave or if you are still unwilling to discuss the circumstances of their death, this could indicate complications in your bereavement. There are many types of complicated grief; it can be delayed, masked, exaggerated, or chronic. Self-diagnosis is without purpose. A year after the death, if you feel your grief symptoms worsening, we advise that you seek a referral from your family physician for professional grief counseling or therapy.Sources: Walsh, Katherine, Grief and Loss: Theories and Skills for the Helping Professions, 2nd Edition, 2012 Worden, James, Grief Counseling & Grief Therapy: A Handbook for the Mental Health Practitioner, 4th Edition, 2009