5 reasons to age in place

There are many reasons why we would choose to age in place. The first and perhaps most important is that ageing in place means you are choosing:

• how you want to spend your retirement years
• how you want your home to be set up
• what your health care choices will be
• which types of assistance are right for you
• what your wishes are for major life events (sickness, housing transitions, financial decisions and dare we say this – death.)

Of course ageing in place doesn’t mean you can’t change your mind should your circumstances change dramatically, but it should mean you are in charge of the next phase of your journey.

All that said – what are the other reasons why you would want to age in place?

Your family and friends are close by:
Choosing to age in place means you can keep your support network around you. There are many studies that say that having a healthy support network is one of the keys to emotional well-being, and emotional well-being is a good indicator of longevity. Of course you can make new friends wherever you go, that is not the issue, moving is stressful at any age, so ageing in place means you don’t add unnecessary stress to your life.

You want to retain the flexibility of living in your own home:
Some people are simply happier in their own spaces, doing what they want, when they want to do it. While some modifications to the space may be required, it is not an absolute and many people remain active and able-bodied throughout their entire lives.

You are simply not ready to “retire”:
Just because you have reached a certain age does not mean you have to “retire” and change your entire lifestyle. While you have perhaps a bit more time on your hands to work on those projects you’ve always wanted to get stuck into, or classes you want to take – retirement doesn’t mean you have to give up work entirely (unless you want to that is), and if you aren’t ready to give up work, why should you give up anything else either. While a smaller place might be a good idea, especially if the family has left home and it’s a bit like rattling around like a lone marble in a jar, a smaller place doesn’t mean you have to give up your independence.

Lifestyle and Retirement Villages isn’t everyone’s cup of tea:
Lifestyle and retirement villages provide a range of social activities as well as providing services and amenities such as gyms, pools and tennis courts. But if you don’t like to be organised or if you are not into those kinds of exercise activities then the service charges may be a deciding factor for you.

There is another factor to consider regarding lifestyle and retirement villages and that is an emotive one. You have a long time ahead of you – do you want to spend decades in those kinds of environments? Of course it is always going to be a personal decision, but if you are happy where you are, doing what you enjoy – why should you change that because you’ve suddenly gotten “older”.

NE: Solutions is WA’s only Senior Move Managers ® we are the professionals who travel with you and can provide you with all the assistance you need – when you choose to use it. We can help with everything from space planning the smaller property should you decide to move. We can help you with decluttering, packing, moving and we can even unpack at the other end of the journey. Moving doesn’t have to be stressful and there are many ways we can help regardless of where you decide to age in place.