Where to live during your retirement years is a multifaceted decision. On one hand, you may want to stay in the home you’ve lived in for years and where you’ve grown your family. On the other hand, the burden of too much space and home maintenance is starting to pile up. You may also be at the point where you are solidifying your plan for the future. Downsizing and moving to a senior living community is a common way that older adults have been able to find the perfect mix of independence, security that their needs will be taken care of and fun. Although the moving process can be overwhelming and you may not be sure where to start, we want you to know that you are not alone. To help overcome the burden of the downsizing process, the team at Ventana is here to offer tips and tricks to downsizing for retirement.
5 Downsizing Tips for Seniors
- Get familiar with your new space. As you transition to retirement living, you’ll most likely be downsizing the amount of space you’re accustomed to. In order to understand how many of your belongings you can bring to your new home — and which items need to go — it’s a great idea to explore your new living space in detail. Be sure to take advantage of access to the community and tour your new home. Spend some time walking around, imagining where everything will go and identifying the storage capacities of the home.And of course, if you have specific questions, you can reach out to the expert staff at the Life Plan community. At Ventana, our team of experts are extremely familiar with downsizing challenges because they’ve already helped many Members move into Ventana’s luxury apartments.
- Get a head start. The earlier you get your belongings ready and put your moving strategies into place, the easier the downsizing process will be in the long run. Ideally, you should get started as soon as you begin planning your move or feel like a move to a Life Plan community might be in your future.
- Start small. Another key strategy for success is starting small and making steady, consistent, incremental progress as you begin your downsizing efforts. Dividing the downsizing process into component tasks works because it takes something that can seem like an overwhelming project and breaks it down into manageable objectives you can address one step at a time.
- Pass down your valuables. Certain items have special meaning to you and your family, and it’s important to make sure that those receive the care and attention they deserve. To continue family legacies and make gifts extra meaningful, gather these items and think about who in your family you want to give them to (and how and when you plan to give the gifts).
- Donate, sell or throw out unwanted items.This is one of the hardest parts for many people, but also one of the most important steps to take as you downsize. It’s easy to want to keep everything, but the simple truth is that many of your belongings probably don’t get used anymore and aren’t needed in your new home. The good news is many of these items can be used by other people, which is why donating or selling them is a great idea.
While going through your items, ask yourself, “is this something important to me?”. If it’s not something you wish to take to your new home, put it in a pile to either donate, sell or throw away.
Downsize Your Home with Ventana by Buckner
At Ventana by Buckner, we want to make sure your move into your new home is as smooth as possible. One way we do this is by partnering with Moving Station. Moving Station is a leader in senior relocation services that partners with senior living communities nationwide. The team helps seniors and their families with tasks like selling a home, downsizing, organizing and the physical move itself. The team at Moving Station truly cares for those they work with and are excited to be the advocate and support for those going through this major transition. Members at Ventana are made aware of the partnership with Moving Station early on in their decision-making process. Since the “how?” of a move to a senior living community can be an objection for some prospective Members, we make sure that concern is met with a solution to make downsizing for retirement as seamless and easy as possible. If you’d like to schedule an information session, apply for residence or simply ask some questions to our team, don’t hesitate to get in touch! We’re always available to assist in researching and evaluating your options. You can also click on this link to schedule your personal tour of our community.