Choosing to Home Retire

Home retirement refers to staying in the town in which one has lived their entire adult life instead of moving away once they retire. Thirty years ago the popular trend among retirees was to move to a personal paradise to live out their days, today, more people want to home retire for many reasons; many people wish to remain close to life long friends and family, many people also want to keep their home and be able to fulfill their goals for that home, and many people want to only travel after retirement age, not leave their homes forever. Home retirement is affecting the real estate and the travel and tourisms around many areas in the Untied States, as more people are retiring; home retiring can also be a way to stretch that retirement budget. Home retirement will often be gentler on a budget than moving because the retiree already is likely to own their home, a car, and hold certain positions with in their community which help them to live an active life with out needing to spend a great deal of money.

Staying Active

Traveling can cut into a home retiree’s budget and should be planned for in their budget, depending on the activities the individual is interested in, they may need to save as little as 70% of their pre-retirement income, to 105% of it or even more! Home retirees can expect to have a few less expenses than they did while working such as commuting costs, buying meals at work, paying union dues, buying work a wardrobe, and any other work related expenses. Taxes are also likely to be different as one is withdrawing from their retirement account, as such one should investigate that before choosing a retirement account in which to save. Working with a financial planner, a person planning to home retire is likely to make the best investment choices which will save them the most money after retiring.

Keeping active can also be an important part of a home retiree’s life, especially once their grand children get older and they find themselves having less family involvement. There are several options for retirees to be active in; hobbies, volunteering, or even working part time can be great options to stimulate the mind and body. Many people believe they should plan for about 20 years of life after they begin retirement, with the advances in medicine that may not be the case, it is becoming more common for people to live into their 80’s or even longer. Along with this longer life often comes a large medical bill, which can all but eliminate the surplus a retiree may expect to find from eliminating work expenses from their budget.

It isn’t a surprise that many people are opting for home retirement once retirement age is reached; whether retiring completely to tend their garden and travel to all the places they ever wanted to see, or retiring from their job to work part time just for fun, home retirement offers people more flexibility and allows their retirement money to last longer.