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In General

Considering Retirement Accommodation Options

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on
Considering Retirement Accommodation Options

I recent months I’ve started to do a lot of future planning. I’ve looked at finances, insurances and even retirement. A lot of people tend to avoid the topic of retirement as much as they can. They think that it’s not going to happen any time soon and that they have plenty of time to save up money for the day they exit the workforce. In reality, you should be planning for retirement as early as possible to help you manage your financial responsibilities. Early retirement can sound like a good idea, but it’s actually more about reaching financial freedom so that you can safely retire with ample funds to live out your golden years. If the current situation has taught me anything it is that having your bases covered, from pensions to considering retirement accommodation options should be put off.

 In this post, I’ll be covering some of the most common retirement accommodation options and why you should consider them.

Considering Retirement Accommodation Options: House Sharing with Relatives

If your relatives or family members are inviting you to stay with them, then this can be the most economical option since you can simply sell your home and take all the capital into your retirement fund. This can be a great option for families with larger homes. 

Care Homes

For seniors with medical or mobility issues, care homes might be the most practical solution for retirement accommodation. You’ll be given a private room and shared communal areas to engage with other residents and staff members. While it can feel a little restrictive, it does provide the best care that you could ask for. Senior care ranges from full-on nursing support to much more independent choices. These are worth considering as you don’t know what your future holds and you want to be able to afford the best choice for you.

Retirement Villages

If you’d like to be surrounded by purpose-built developments and other seniors around your age then retirement villages can be a fantastic choice. These can provide a huge mix of accommodation styles and you’ll be able to downsize your existing property to something a lot smaller and affordable. Consider a set up such as ERL retirement villages that offer lots of additional services and local amenities that can enhance your experience. While there are some age restrictions, these self-contained villages can feel like holiday homes in some cases and will provide lots of extra comforts that will make your life a lot easier.

Considering Retirement Accommodation Options: Staying in Your Current Home

Of course, you could just stay with your current home if you’re content with it.  While many people prefer to just stay in their own home, there are arguments for downsizing that should be considered since it can save a lot of money and offer more comfort. Staying in a large and empty home isn’t for everyone but it really depends on your personal preferences.

Just like how you have lots of retirement options, there are also lots of different choices for retirement accommodation. Doing your research here is important because purchasing a retirement property can be a huge investment.

Have you started to look differently at your future because of what is going on in the world and your world right now? I certainly have. Next up is to take another look at my insurances to make sure everything is up to date and that my cover is adequate.

In Finance, Frugal Living, Parenting

4 Tips for Freeing Up Your Finances

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on
4 Tips for Freeing Up Your Finances

If you’ve been reading the blog you’ll know that in January I started a family Frugal Living challenge, aimed at cutting back waste, sorting our finances and putting more into our savings and pensions. It can be tricky to balance budgeting with raising a family. Financial security is important for everyone — especially those of us with children.

Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to manage costs as a parent. Here are four ideas that could help.

Plan Spending in Advance

To stay on top of your finances, why not plan all outgoings in advance? By doing this on a regular basis, you can avoid splashing out on products that you don’t need.

In turn, you could make massive savings. Store a simple cash flow document on your phone to make sure that you can view it anywhere. This way, you can instantly squash that desire to spend impulsively by seeing how it will affect you later in the month.

Instant mobile access is also useful if it feels like you rarely get five minutes to sit down at your laptop or tablet. Let’s face it, that description applies to most of us as parents. But you needn’t let your busy family life get in the way of managing your finances.

Work from Home

If you’re a stay-at-home parent and miss the thrill of work, don’t worry. You can easily transform a passion into a successful home-run business. In fact, self-employment has almost doubled over the past 18 years. As a result, there’s more support than ever available to people who want to make cash by doing what they love.

Do you want to free up your finances, get your teeth stuck into a long-term project, and be there to support the kids? If so, this could be the perfect money-making solution for you?  I’ve been a freelancer for nearly 13 years, 9 years full time which is something that I chose to do so that I could still earn and be flexible around my family’s needs.

Prepare for Rainy Days

Nobody knows what the future holds. Sometimes, darker periods can occur. And when they do, it’s useful to have a financial back-up in place. Should an event or issue affect your income, with savings you’re fully prepared to deal with it. With this contingency money, you and your family can remain financially secure whatever the circumstance.

In addition, putting aside small amounts for your retirement could help you to stay financially afloat well into the future. This is what we’re working hard on at the moment.

So long as you contribute regularly to your fund, there’s never been a better time to start saving than now.

Enjoy Free Activities and Days Out

I mentioned this briefly in my Frugal Living February Update blog post. Saving money doesn’t have to be boring and we don’t always need money to have a good time. Free days out can be fun for everyone.

What’s more, you won’t be paying to enter a popular destination – you’ll be doing whatever you’ve arranged solely as a family – so this is also likely to bring you all closer together.

Parenthood can be challenging enough without the stress of financial organisation. But when you know how, you can easily arrange your finances and attend to your family at the same time. Once you’ve dealt with the money side of things, you’ll be able to enjoy life to the full. And this will benefit everyone in the family.

 

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