Your transition to fulfilling retirement living will be one of the most significant milestones of your life. It may seem daunting to take the first steps toward such a significant change, but if you start early and take control of your choices, you can end up with a plan that’s even better than you imagined. 

Early planning will also allow you more time to think through your decisions to ensure everything is right for you. There’s never a time to prepare for retirement that’s too early, so here are a few initial steps you’ll want to consider to help get you started. 

Prepare Your Home for Sale

If you’ve raised a family in a larger home, the chances are you’re going to end up with much more space than you need. Extra room might seem like a luxury when you’re just starting out in your first home, but if you’re sitting on unused rooms, you’re only giving yourself more unnecessary to clean and maintain – not to mention higher taxes. 

The more space you have to maintain, the more difficulty you’ll have staying independent in your home. Instead, you can sell your current home and downsize to a home perfect for emptynesters: a bungalow townhome. Selling your home will also provide more money towards a few extra luxuries to enjoy when you retire. 

Consider a Custom Townhome

Just because you don’t need as large a home as you once did, doesn’t mean you should go without any of the luxuries you’ve enjoyed in the past. If you decide to move from an expensive location in the city to a more reasonably priced area in a traditional small Ontario town, you will likely be able to upgrade the quality of your home. After all, that’s why it’s called a downsize – not a downgrade.

The best way to find out what luxuries you’ll be able to afford when you move is to talk to new home builders in Niagara about what’s available in custom-built options. Building a custom home will ensure that nothing you have in mind for your retirement years will be left out. 

Buying a townhome in a community that provides lawn maintenance and snow removal means you can lock up and go down south at any time.

Location is Everything

When you’re moving into a new home, you get choices. Custom options can allow you to personalize your living areas to create the perfect dream home, but the interior of your home isn’t the end of the story regarding quality retirement living. 

Moving to a smaller town in an area with a lot to offer retirees, such as the Niagara region, will provide easy access to luxuries you might not even have considered in your current retirement plan. Consider how living very close to these amenities will contribute to a fun and fulfilling retirement lifestyle: 

• Beaches on Ontario’s Stunning Great Lakes
• Virtually Endless Hiking Trails through Beautiful Natural Landscapes
• World Class Golf Courses
• Tennis, Cycling, Hiking
• Fine Dining 
• Ontario’s Top Wineries 

This list only captures the tip of the iceberg when it comes to all of the attractive features that the Niagara Region has to offer its residents. 

The initial stages of retirement planning are about deciding how to accommodate the lifestyle you desire by finding the ideal place to live. Don’t just sit on a large property you don’t need, which will only become an increasing challenge to maintain as you age. Get in contact with home builders in the Niagara region to get started on a better retirement plan that’s guaranteed to contribute to a fulfilling retirement.