One size does not tend to fit all for every stage of life – whether that be clothes, cars, yard space or a home.
While a larger home is ideal for a growing family, for empty nesters it usually means more work and maintenance that can increasingly become a burden.
Downsizing to a more suitably sized home offers far more choice as Baby Boomers reinvent retirement living and what they expect. Moving into a new apartment, a retirement village, an over 55s community, or a granny flat, offers specific advantages that suit particular needs.
However each of these solutions has financial and legal implications that are important to know. Downsizing expert Rachel Lane, co-author of two best-selling books ‘Downsizing Made Simple’ and ‘Aged Care, Who Cares’ views downsizing more as ‘rightsizing’.
“When I saw a lot of people go through the downsizing process I found it was really more about what was the right size home for them,” Lane said.
“Was it the right chapter in their stage of retirement to have a 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom house with a big garden and swimming pool that might get used twice a year?
“For those who like to travel when they can, do you need a great big house to come back to, or is it the right size where you can just lock it up and leave it,” she said.
She goes on to explain that moving into a retirement community is another way retirees can have that security of being part of a safe community and know you can go away and your things are looked after.
Rightsizing isn’t about compromise, it’s about choosing a home that suits the stage of life you are in, to enhance your retirement lifestyle and open up opportunities to focus on what’s important.