For many seniors, move is a four-letter word. It has so many complications.
Many older people not only lack the strength and energy to move heavy boxes and furniture, they have to figure what to do about a half-century of memorabilia. What do we keep? What goes?
But a move to downsize your shelter doesn’t have to carry a full load of maddening frustrations, although problems do exist with some families who are empty-nesters and want smaller quarters.
Some 43 percent of seniors age 50 to 64 say they plan to move within the next few years. Half of them say they plan to move into a smaller house, according to The Wall Street Journal.
If you are in the downsizing mode, you probably have been looking around at all your unused space, since the kids are gone, and wondering why you need to keep heating and electrifying what has become a relatively empty mansion. In a minority of families, the young ones may still live at home because they can’t find a job in these troubled times of high unemployment. But most parents have trust that such high unemployment won’t last forever.
With the real estate market still fragile, it’s only the lucky couples who are fortunate enough to sell the old homestead for more than they expected the home may be worth.
Even a decade or so or so ago, older adults who moved, whether because of a job loss or the loss of a spouse, downsizers didn’t receive much of a windfall either, according to Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research.
Retirement real estate experts advise that movers should sell their present home before buying a new house, even if you have to move twice. You don’t want to be carrying two mortgages while owning two residences at once.
A professional organizer and author, Marcia Ramsland of San Diego, recommends taking pictures of different part of your home before dismantling it preparing for a move. That’s one way to keep memories alive.
Others in the ranks of professional moving advisors advise: Take with you only what will fit your future lifestyle. If you don’t plan to entertain a lot, there’s no use taking a ton of plates and other serving equipment to your new residence.
Laura Feauto, a move manager for seniors, takes on an array of responsibilities, from finding a charity for unwanted clothes, dishes, and tools to deciding what furniture is truly necessary. But it’s not easy. Sometimes a chair is just a chair. Sometimes it’s a symbol of where grandmother used to sit doing her knitting.
Major downsizing is necessary when you are moving from a large house to an apartment in an assisted-living facility. Feauto uses scale models of furniture and a floor plan of the new residence to see what can fit where.
Estate auctions, charitable organizations, and consignment shops can be useful in disposing of excess possessions. But clothing is one of the most difficult problems, says Feauto. When was the last time you worn that suit? or do you think you’ll really need that tuxedo again? are typical questions to raise.
What about all those books? Your children may want some inscribed by the author. But scores have been sitting on their shelves for decades, never to be read again by you.
I have gradually been taking bags of books to our local library. They give me a receipt so I can deduct their worth for tax purposes. We aren’t downsizing. But I won’t live forever, and my wife will have enough to get rid of without dealing with hundreds of books.
Feauto helps pack boxes, arranges for the moving van and even supervises unloading in the new home. Professional moving managers have multiplied because frequently children who might ordinarily help with moves now live and work across the country and aren’t readily available.
These days, when seniors are living longer but often aren’t able to do heavy yard work or throw big parties, downsizing is the natural and practical decision for many seniors.
Tait Trussell is an old guy and fourth-generation professional journalist who writes extensively about aging issues among a myriad of diverse topics.