Are you the adult child of an aging senior?
Are your parents still in the family home? Is it time to downsize them?
Are you a senior wanting to downsize?
Seniors are our largest growing demographic. You may be one of them or you may have parents that fit into that category.
My mom is 79. Fortunately she is still able to live in the family home however that does not mean that is the best idea. Some experts have the theory that it is better to downsize while you can still make all of the major decisions and your health is still really good. I would have to agree.
All too often I work with clients who are not capable of downsizing. Their grown children are so busy with their own lives that they are not able to help either.
Check out this short video on downsizing seniors. Plus Getting it Together’s game plan.
1. Have a family meeting to decide when a good time to start downsizing is. My Aunt did this and came up with the age in which she felt was appropriate to move into something smaller. She has given herself a couple of years in which to plan for and execute the move. In the meantime when her grown children are over they work on a certain area of the house. For example, they did cookbooks the other day. This was a funny one because my cousin asked my Aunt which cookbooks she was still using to which my Aunt replied “none, I do not cook anymore”. Lol
Ok so that was easy. All the cookbooks went to the second hand book store.
Next in line were the volumes of encyclopedias. The money people have spent on encyclopedias to realize that now a day’s Google does it all for us. Off to the used book store they went.
2. Decide who will help you or your aging parents with downsizing. Chances are your grown kids have a young family of their own. Their time may be very limited. Is it best to hire a professional organizer to help with the downsizing?
3. Where do you want your items to go? This is always a tricky question. I know of people that again have a family meeting. They get each person to put their name on the back of any items they would like once the downsizing starts and/or when the aging parents pass away. Are there collections that need to be sold? Are there family heirlooms that need to be preserved? Are there other household items that need to be donated or tossed? This is where I come in. I will sell, donate, or toss items for my clients. I think if people know their items are going to a good place they are more likely to part with them.
What items will be needed in the new smaller living space? This might be a tougher question to answer until you see the new smaller living space. Once you do, you will be able to decide what stays and what goes.
4. When should you start downsizing? TODAY! If you have allowed yourself enough time you can break this downsizing project down into bite size pieces. Try not to leave this project to the last minute. Change is hard on most people. Downsizing is one of the biggest changes a person might do in their life. Embrace it.
Would you like a FREE session over the phone? Contact me today to get yours. We can discuss your downsizing situation and come up with some solutions in order for you to move forward right away.
Have you had any experience with downsizing a parent or have you yourself recently downsized? If so please leave some helpful comments in the box below.
Leave A Comment