Why Downsizing Your Home for Retirement Is a Good Idea

You’ve retired and the children have left the nest. What do you do now? Should you downsize and move to a smaller home? Should you upsize and live in the big house of your dreams? Should you move to a totally new location, or enjoy the rest of your years in your current home? There are pros and cons for each situation, but let’s focus on downsizing your home for retirement since it has so many benefits.

Downsizing Your Home for Retirement: Why You Should Do It

1. Stop Paying for Space You Don’t Need

If you have children and they’ve all long since moved out, you probably have empty bedrooms and extra bathrooms. Even if you’ve paid off your mortgage by the time you retire, all that unused space is still going to cost you money. You’ll have to pay expenses such as utilities, homeowners insurance, and property maintenance, like yard work or shoveling snow.

Retirement is supposed to be as stress-free as possible. Why not downsize to a smaller home and get rid of some of these unnecessary extra costs you don’t need to bear?

2. Potential Income

Just because you’re downsizing to a smaller home, that doesn’t mean you have to sell the current one. Why not rent out the current one, earn an income from it, and live comfortably in a smaller home? Earning an income when you’re retired could come in handy. Perhaps you could take that trip you’ve been wanting to take your whole life.

3. A Home to Suit Your Needs

Perhaps you have problems with your joints, arthritis for example. You may have been able to climb all those stairs when you were younger, but now they’re a drag. Perhaps your current laundry room is on the other side of the house, and doing laundry has become more difficult. When you downsize, you have the option of having everything on one level and everything close by, which will enable you to still carry out some chores but not be overwhelmed by them.

4. Live in a New Location and Downsize

If you’ve always dreamed about living somewhere exotic, or simply living in a different area, retirement is the perfect time to do so. You could downsize and relocate to a smaller house by the beach somewhere. You don’t necessarily have to have one or the other – that is, downsize or relocate. Downsizing and relocating could also save you lots of money. If, for example, you decide to move to Mexico, you could save a lot of money. According to Numbeo, rent prices in the United States are 311.68% higher than in Mexico!

Plan Accordingly

Downsizing your home for retirement may be an overwhelming process, but it can definitely be well worth it. Make sure your expectations are realistic, and allow yourself enough time to complete the transition. Make sure to do your research (possibly with the help of a realtor) and take your finances and needs into consideration. There’s no reason why your retirement can’t be just as good as you’ve always imagined it to be.