Where and how you live in retirement affects nearly everything else on this site — your budget, your health and mobility over time, your proximity to family, and your day-to-day routine. It's worth treating as its own deliberate decision rather than something that happens by default.
Aging in place
Staying in a long-time home has real advantages — familiarity, community, no moving costs — but it's worth an honest look at whether the home will still work in 10 or 20 years: stairs, bathroom accessibility, yard maintenance, and proximity to healthcare. Many "aging in place" plans quietly assume good health indefinitely; a more realistic plan accounts for mobility changes ahead of time.
Downsizing
Moving to a smaller home can reduce costs and maintenance significantly, but the emotional side is often underestimated — decades of belongings and memories attached to a family home don't sort themselves out quickly. Financially, downsizing can also free up home equity to support retirement income, which is worth factoring into the broader financial picture.
Relocating
Moving somewhere new in retirement — closer to family, to a lower cost-of-living area, or somewhere warmer — can work well, but it's worth visiting in different seasons and building a social circle intentionally before or right after the move, since a new location won't automatically come with the community your old one had.
Senior living communities
These range widely, from independent 55+ communities to continuing care communities with a path to assisted living built in. Understanding the difference — and reading contracts on future care costs carefully — matters more the earlier you're considering this option, since some communities have long waitlists.
- Assess your current home honestly for accessibility 10-20 years out, not just today
- If considering downsizing, start the emotional and physical sorting process earlier than feels necessary
- If relocating, visit prospective areas in more than one season before committing
- Build a plan for social connection in a new location — it won't happen automatically
- For senior living communities, read contracts carefully for how future care needs are handled and priced
Local aging and housing resources are listed on the Resources page, including the Eldercare Locator.