retirement options

I keep thinking about that topic.  Not so much retirement but "aging" which is not static, but an ongoing process of physical and mental decline.  Sorry, but that is reality. We inevitably age and must face the accommodations that are necessary to make us safe and comfortable duing that process.

After her divorce, my sister moved back to our hometown where she still has high school friends and where she can walk to the main street that has shopping and restaurants.  Her condo is pre-war and spacious.  She put a lot of money into making it comfortable and modern.  It's a perfect home for many reasons but it is on the second floor of her building.  No elevator.  What happens when she realizes she can no longer walk up those stairs?  Will she have to face another move when the first one from her home was so difficult and traumatic?

Stairs, accessibility and location are basic elements of "aging in place"
and a stress free retirement.   No stairs, period - unless you are renting and can move in a year.  An open floor plan with universal design, a walk in shower, light switches at wheelchair level - everyone over 50 should consider those accommodations.

Location is a tricky one.  A neighbor who has lived in our community for 24 years lost her husband about 8 years ago.  She keeps saying she will move but cannot decide where.  Her home is comfortable and she has moved her bedroom to the first floor.  She is physically active, mentally adept. "I'll stay here for two more years and then I'm moving near one of my kids", she says.  She has four sons and a daughter and they don't live near each other.  So - which to choose to live near?  And what if life circumstances change and the child moves?  I think of neighbors in Florida who left Florida to be near their children, hated the place they moved to, hated the doctors and didn't see that much of the kids and grandkids, anyway.  Now they are back in Florida, full time. She has a sister nearby in Florida.  That will be her support system, not her kids.  I've noticed more and more that siblings, cousins, etc live near each other when they retire to Florida.  Nothing is guaranteed.  Siblings can get ill or die, move away, too.  It's a fluid stage of life and ironically couldn't come at a worse time when we are sometimes dealing with so much else.