The happiest retirees are those that love where they live

Yes, the old saying “home is where the heart is” is true. Your current home is more than just a house. It’s the place where you have celebrated many happy times with friends and family. It’s likely the place where you brought up your children and you have probably done a lot of work to both the house and the garden to make it ‘yours’. Looking through old photos brings back so many special memories.

You should love where you live – and this goes not just for your home, but also your street, your neighbours and your community.

Question for you – Will you still be living in your current home 5, 10, 15 years after you retire?

Maybe you love where you live but, will it be too big? Will you be able to keep up with the cleaning and the ongoing maintenance of both the house and the garden?

If the answer is yes it will be harder to look after, but you love where you live then there is an increasing availability of help available from both private and Government supported services such as maintenance, cleaning, gardening and even shopping and food preparation that will help you to stay in your home for as long as you want.

Regardless of maintenance and size issues though, is your current home where you want to live after you stop work? Is it within easy access to where you want to spend time doing the things you love, or to the family and friends you want to spend time with?

If you do think you may want to live somewhere else sometime in your retirement, my best advice is to consider this as early as you can. In fact, I recommend you move to your retirement home at least 5 years before you think you should.

It gets harder to shift as you get older. You need to get your house ready for sale, there will be maintenance, maybe painting and tidying. Then you need to declutter, pack, and shift.

Your new home may need new furniture and some modifications to make it yours.

Importantly you will be in a new environment, with new neighbours and new leisure activities, new shopping and medical facilities to get used to – all of which is better done earlier rather than later with the energy and enthusiasm that comes with doing it on your terms, rather than the dread, heartache and often despondency that comes with leaving your decision to shift homes too late.

The happiest retirees are those that love where they live. Make the critical decision of where you want to live after you stop work earlier rather than later.