Most of us are understandably attached to our homes. They’re a place of security, familiarity, and comfort.
It may have taken us many years, if not decades, to get them to a state whereby we really do think of them as “home”.
Yet as little, as we may wish to think about it, time progresses and things change. With that comes the need to think racially about the suitability of our much-loved home as a platform for the future.
Questions
For the majority of people, as we age, our requirements for a property change as well.
Sometimes that can sneak up on us, in spite of many previous warning signs.
Unfortunately, it’s also true that the later we leave it before taking steps to find more suitable accommodation, the more traumatic the move can be.
So, it might pay to think carefully as you approach or pass retirement, whether or not you are noticing any of the following symptoms in terms of your existing home:
- You are struggling to keep it clean. Let’s be clear, there is absolutely no stigma about this whatsoever. It doesn’t suggest that there is a basic problem with your hygiene standards or any such thing!
However, as we age we often simply lack the energy necessary to keep a larger home in the same pristine condition that might once have been the case. Pulling vacuum cleaners around, dusting in high corners, trying to clean up and down a staircase and cleaning out lofts (etc.) can all start to become too much.
As a result, we often subconsciously start to put those jobs off or do them much less frequently. If we look long and hard, the results might be visible.
- The garden is getting out of control. This probably doesn’t need much explanation! The logic is largely the same as that covered above in terms of keeping larger houses spic and span.
If you have a larger garden it might still be your pride and joy but there might also come a time when you find you are starting to cut corners and ease off the maintenance because you simply don’t have the same level of energy and even enthusiasm.
That too can start to become very visible.
- Avoiding going upstairs. Of course, even the average retirement-age person should not find climbing a modest staircase to be a physical challenge unless they are unwell. If you are doing so, you should consult professional medical advice sooner rather than later.
However, we can all subconsciously find that we’re putting off reasons to go up and down stairs as regularly as we once did just for standard fetching and carrying. It may be good exercise but ultimately our bodies start to try and persuade us that they simply don’t want to keep doing that on a regular basis anymore.
- You’re starting to become increasingly concerned about security. This is another fairly commonplace symptom for people who are becoming older and perhaps living in a large house with few immediately adjacent neighbours who would be able to offer assistance in an emergency.
- You find that you are increasingly dipping into your savings to keep paying the standard bills. This is commonplace in a large house in the context of not having anything to live on other than your pension.
It’s another classic symptom that it might be time to “right-size” and save money.
Summary
None of these are exactly pleasant subjects to talk about or symptoms to look for.
There are many steps we can all take to defer some of the most obvious effects of old age, including through things such as living healthily. Even so, if the above symptoms start to appear, they might indicate that it’s time to seriously consider whether it might make sense to sell your existing home and use the funds to secure more suitable accommodation.
