This week, subscribers to the newsletter are receiving the latest in my series of guides on key topics in retirement - aging in place.
Staying in your current home as you age can be a good option - but doing it successfully requires some careful thought and planning. What’s more, aging in place is not always realistic - issues to consider include the cost of maintaining your home, proximity to healthcare, family, recreation, leisure activities and transportation.
Deciding where to live in retirement can be a big challenge. The decision doesn’t lend itself to dispassionate analysis, because so much emotion is involved. Just as important, you’re attempting to make decisions now that depend very much on your future lifestyle, health and social environment.
“Most people have tremendous difficulty envisioning what might happen going forward,” says Dr. Stephen Golant, a gerontologist and expert on long-term care, housing, mobility and transportation for older adults. “The idea that your health might decline or that your spouse could die, or that your financial situation is going to become more tentative - these are obviously things that we should be thinking about, but it’s difficult to put ourselves into that future tense in order to plan.”
Dr. Golant is my guest on this week’s podcast. He is a professor emeritus at the University of Florida, and his latest book is called Aging in the Right Place.
In our conversation, we discuss the reasons people might want to move - but don’t in most cases. And he also thinks some new factors are emerging that will increase the odds that people will stay put.
Listen to the podcast by clicking the player icon at the top of this page.
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The guide series
When you subscribe, you’ll receive the weekly newsletter, plus all editions of the retirement guides. Along with the new guide to aging in place, the series already includes:
The transition to Medicare: How to get it right. The transition to Medicare from other types of insurance is fraught with pitfalls that can be costly. Signing up for Medicare at the right time is critical, along with understanding when the program’s coverage is primary. Getting this wrong can lead to costly lifetime late enrollment penalties on Part B premiums, and lengthy gaps in your insurance coverage. Featuring a podcast interview with Joe Baker, recently-retired president of the Medicare Rights Center.
How to hire a financial advisor. Why hiring an advisor can improve your retirement - if you hire the right kind. And that means hiring a fiduciary. Featuring a podcast interview with Sheryl Garrett, a certified financial planner and a pioneer in the movement to provide everyday Americans with unbiased financial advice.
Timing your Social Security claim. Social Security is the most important retirement benefit for most Americans - full stop. That is true for low- and middle-income people, and for more affluent households. In this guide, I explore how your benefit is calculated and strategies for getting the most income from the program. Featuring a podcast interview with journalist and Social Security expert Mary Beth Franklin.
The cost of healthcare in retirement. Surveys show that many Americans worry that healthcare costs will consumer a large portion of their resources. One reason is that we are exposed to a steady stream of news headlines with daunting forecasts of what you will need to spend over the course of your entire retirement. But these forecasts can be misleading, since you won’t be spending these big sums all at once. The more important questions: What are the outsize risks that could upset your retirement plan? And, what can you do to mitigate those risks? Featuring a podcast interview with retirement educator Steve Vernon.
New retirement guide: Aging in place