Remember your first apartment? As young adults, many of us may have used milk crates as bookshelves, turned wood pallets into a coffee table and picked up odds and ends at yard sales. Walls were bare — and often cupboards — but living with less offered more freedom with fewer possessions to clean, fix and insure. Many of us remember those days fondly, not because we struggled financially but because we were happy nonetheless.
In many ways, a happy retirement can emulate some of those characteristics of our youth. One way to help recapture that lifestyle is to downsize. This doesn’t necessarily mean you need to consider selling your home for a smaller one. It’s possible to downsize possessions — things you never use anymore, closet clutter, spare kitchenware, pictures on the walls that your children might appreciate now more than you.
You can try giving up other things that cost you money but that you don’t use: magazine subscriptions you never read; a gym membership you don’t use; a country club affiliation that you stopped enjoying years ago. Again, downsizing doesn’t have to mean getting rid of those things entirely. Go to the public library to read your fill of magazines and newspapers. Check out your local parks and recreation department to see what classes, tennis courts, pools and golf courses are available.
How many times have you forgone an interest because you were involved in too many other things? Now’s the time you can swap out the old and try something new. It may help keep you feeling young.
We can all find ways to cut back expenses and simplify our lives, but it’s important that you don’t regard it as depriving yourself. Downsizing is a way to reach back in time to your 22-year-old self: less stuff, more lifestyle.
Although economists say the country has recovered from the 2008 recession, many people nearing retirement age would disagree. In fact, according to a recent study by the Bankers Life Center for a Secure Retirement, only 2 percent of middle-income baby boomers believe the economy has fully recovered. More than half of those surveyed reported that their savings are lower than they were before the crisis, and 40 percent stated they are not earning as much as they used to earn.
In recent years, the markets, the economy and the global political scene have evolved considerably. We’ve witnessed both remarkable volatility and remarkable resilience in these areas. The reality is that less predictability in today’s economic landscape requires more vigilant risk diversification, coupled with the ability to adapt to a fast-changing environment.
While some people accept getting older as a natural part of life, many others are on a mission to fight the aging process and maintain a youthful attitude and appearance. Although we are often reminded to “age gracefully” – to accept our older selves just as they are – research shows those who stay young at heart may just be on to something.
