Senior Spotlight: Downsize, Rightsize or Upsize?

Retirement is never a one size fits all strategy, and neither is what type of home you choose to live your later life years within. This week, we wanted to share the 3 lifestyle options that retirees are reconsidering – and you might be surprised which one is growing in popularity!

DOWNSIZING

This is the retirement trend that most people are familiar with of course, selling your lifelong home to move into something smaller. Reasons typically include:

| Less home and yard maintenance

| Using the ROI from the property to support other retirement goals & needs

| Fewer household expenses

| Motivation to minimize and live with less stuff & less stress

RIGHTSIZING

In the article that inspired this blog, Forbes defined ‘rightsizing’ as having ‘just enough space that you need – nothing more and nothing less.’ This can be a hard criterion to define as most of us have never retired before! Not knowing how much time you plan to spend at home vs. travel or how your finances will play typically involves an adjustment period. Reasons individuals typically rightsize include:

| Desiring less space than a family home, but enough space to still have friends and family over

| Finding a home that better meets the challenges of aging (such as single-story living) and has some desired or long-awaited features (open floor plan, gourmet kitchen, etc.)

| Wanting a home that is a steppingstone between the large, long-owned home and a senior independent or assisted living community

UPSIZING

Believe it or not… some retirees want more and not less. The growing trend of upsizing is actually more common in a hot real estate market! Forbes states that retirees are often able to sell for a great profit and then ‘end up purchasing a larger, more luxurious home than they had before.’ In other cases, retirees purchase multiple homes and even utilize some for investment cash flow. Reasons behind the recent upsizing trend include:

| Historic stock market rises over the past decade which have fueled better living for retirees

| Pandemic life that drastically altered how much time retirees spend at home vs. traveling

| Low interest rates that make a larger, more upgraded home more attainable

| FOMO (fear of missing out) as friends, family and colleagues upsize and the desire to ‘keep up’ kicks in

Have you ever considered upsizing in retirement? Does rightsizing sound like the best fit for you? Does traditional downsizing make the most sense & cents in your situation? Let us know if you need help making a plan & then making it happen!

Resource Used: Retirement Planning Trends: Upsizing Is The New Downsizing

Bobbi Decker
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