Home is Where?

Latest Articles

So You Want to Be Your Own Trustee: Or Nobody Told Me This Before

Some years ago while I was still active in my financial planning business I had a client share with my other clients what it had been like to act as the trustee of his own trust after the death of his...

Living with the Realities of Your Estate Planning Documents

INTRODUCTION: The following material is taken from a booklet I prepared for Petra Financial Advisors, Inc in 2002. It is copyrighted by Petra and you can get a nicely printed booklet from them that...

New LIfespan Realities

NEW LIFESPAN REALITIES by Carol Anderson, M.S.[1] As we navigate life in the 21st century, the trend that will have the most profound effect on the future of our society (and other industrialized so...

Forces That Shape Your Future

Forces that Shape Your Future by Ed Morrow CLU,ChFC,CFP(r),CEP,RFC(r) Four massive forces that you cannot change are now shaping your future. They are solidly in place and they will not go away. �...

Choosing the Long Term Care Policy That Is Right For You

CHOOSING THE LONG TERM CARE POLICY THAT IS RIGHT FOR YOU As you approach retirement and, perhaps, for awhile afterwards you will be solicited by insurance agents about buying long term care ins...

Home is Where?

We have all heard and grew up knowing that “home is were the heart is”. But could it be that the heart is where the home is? Home is an amalgamation of a great number of dynamics that all converge to make a home. And each of these dynamics carries with them a boat load of emotions and feelings.

Your host has moved a great number of times. Some of these moves were defensive and not welcome but, for the most part, they were looked forward to with great anticipation and excitement and hope. And, for the most part, they were a positive experience. In fact, moving became a way of life BUT this last move proved to be a very emotional one that carried with it many second thoughts and questions about why did we move. And the moves we made while our sons were growing up have had a lasting impact on them that has been a force in their moving decisions.

During my years of advising clients many of them have voluntarily moved when they retired or soon thereafter. Many times, if not most of the time, it has come a great cost emotionally and, as a result, financially. But then again, it has also been a successful and happy experience for many.

As we age it seems that our desire to move begins to diminish. It becomes harder and harder to live home even though that might be the best decision to make. AARP has done a number of studies all of which leads to the conclusion that most of us want to die in our home; our current home. But will that be possible?

This section will help you explore the dynamics of where home is for you and help you explore the other possibilities besides staying where you are now. It will help you set criteria for selecting a new living situation and the circumstances that will trigger your move. It will also help you decide whether you really want to move at all ever again and give you guidance in what is necessary to insure that is the case.

Staying in Place

AARP has found in a number of polls they have taken of their members that the vast majority – 85 to 90% - want to live out their lives in their own home. But is it possible? The answer is yes if proper planning has taken place and implemented. As I reflect back on my career as a financial planner I realize that I engaged in rather thorough planning with clients with regard to their retirement but not their aging in place at home. We would delve rather deeply into their lifestyle and what it cost. We broke down the cost into as many categories as possible so it would be possible to evaluate the impact of inflation on each cost category but we never considered the cost of retrofitting their home so they could stay in place for their entire lives.

A Guide and Checklist for Selecting a Continuing Care Retirement Community

The following was substantially taken from two websites: The Rehabilitation Accreditation Commission (www.carf.org) and My Guide to Communities for Seniors (www.myguideforseniors.com). Our admonition is to “look for before you leap” and leap before you are pushed. You do not want your circumstances forcing you into making a decision. You need to move while you are in control of the decision and in full command of your circumstances. This requires that you move before you think you need to move. So start to investigate where you might want to move long before you think you need to so that you become acclimated to the thought of moving. Not only do you need to be in command and control but you need to be at peace with your decision. This requires time.

Home for Life - Your Goal is Our Purpose

An AARP survey demonstrated that 9 out of 10 people age 50 or older want to stay in their own home for the rest of their lives. Even though this is your goal many things can conspire to create a need for you to move. The yard work, the nagging little things that go wrong, house cleaning, having to cook three meals a day, the home no longer accommodates your physical needs, transportation access and even the concerns of your children can all force you to move whether you want to or not. Home for Life offers a continuum of services that are designed to fit your lifestyle and circumstances so that you can continue to live in your home for life.

Determining the Next Stop - Whither Thou Goest

As we discussed in The Dynamics of Decision Making in the Getting Older Happens topic section, Place is a very important dynamic in our lives. It is often where we interact with those people who are most important to us and engage in those activities that are most rewarding and fulfilling to us. We progressively associate peace, comfort, safety and even control with place. It is said that home is where the heart is but increasingly, as we age, the place we call home takes on all of these aspects. We find peace and comfort and safety in the place we call home. And we have a sense that we are in better control of all of the circumstances of our lives if we have a place called home.