The Heritage of Green Hills, a healthy living community in Shillington, recently sponsored a seminar, “Downsizing is Simpler than You Think.”
The presentation by Mark Clark, owner of Transition Connections in West Lawn, provided tips on how seniors can make the process of moving to a smaller home or retirement community easier and less stressful. Transition Connections is a full service senior move and transition services company, which helps seniors, their families, friends and caregivers with major transitions later in life.
According to Cheryl Anderson, community life services director at The Heritage, “Roughly 10,000 Baby Boomers will turn 65 today, and about 10,000 more will cross that threshold every day for the next 19 years. And many of these seniors are looking to downsize to a smaller home or retirement community. Mary provided valuable advice for seniors thinking of moving.”
Clark said, “Most seniors worry about how to ‘declutter’ – including getting rid of furniture and other items they no longer need or have room for. The four ways to get rid of such items is by giving them away as a gift – to family, for instance; donating them; selling them; or throwing them away. While there are a number of local resources to find buyers for unwanted things, the senior sellers are often disappointed that their things bring a far lower price than they imagined. We try to set realistic expectations.
“But the biggest surprise about downsizing for seniors is that it is much more than managing the details of the move; it is about a transition to a simpler lifestyle that can be less stressful and more fulfilling. The biggest piece of advice I give seniors is, ‘Yes, handle the details of the move. But be prepared for a transition to a completely new way of living.'”
