I received a frantic call yesterday from a lovely 85 year young lady who was in desperate need of advice. She had been living in her home for that last 40 years. When she had moved in, her knees were working well and her eye sight was 20/20. She drove at night and had the home in tip-top shape. As the years went on her husband passed away and she was the captain in charge of the ship. She took over duties such as paying the bills and making sure the maintenance of the home was up to the moment, as they had always took pride in the condition both structurally and mechanically.

Over the last 10 years her body started to experience difficulties in her ability to navigate the stairs as her knees began to show signs of arthritis. She became less confident when driving at night. She became more anxious about security, as many of her trusted neighbors had moved on. What hurt the most is that many of her friends had (more…)

We all put off making decisions that take us out of our comfort zone. Imagine a decision as important as moving from your home that you’ve lived in for the last 35 years! In my survey of my senior clients, the average time lived in their last home before moving to senior housing was 34 years. This same survey pointed to fear of change as the number one reason my clients were not moving when a change was needed.

When procrastination takes center stage, we find reasons not to move forward. One main excuse not to improve our housing situation is convincing ourselves that we don’t need to make a change. One way to avoid a move is to convince ourselves that we live in our homes for free. In most or all cases, that is not reality.

I work closely with senior financial planners so that my customers have all of the financial facts before making an important decision such as moving to condominiums, apartments, or senior communities. These trained professionals will interview my clients and point out the costs to live in their homes. Utilities, taxes, insurance and maintenance are a few of these costs. Another major consideration is the cost of (more…)