If the clients wait until the last minute, panic can set in.
A woman and her team focus on the difficulties of the work as well as the emotional challenges faced by Baby Boomers who opt to downsize, according to Columbus CEO’s article “Estate Planning and Retirement: How to Downsize Like a Diva.”
One of the major challenges faced by the company is that the clients may not be at their physical best. Downsizing can be extremely upsetting.
Faced with the task of pulling up roots and moving her family from a big midwestern city to a smaller town, Laura Schulman found it overwhelming. She did enjoy some of the tasks, including handling all the details of organizing and packing and setting up a new home. Nine years later, she decided to start a company, A Moving Experience, that would help seniors downsize before moving to smaller homes, apartments or assisted living facilities.
Her company is one of many senior move management companies that help seniors with this transition. The companies organize possessions, create a floor plan for new residences, schedule and oversee moving companies, handle any sales or donations of items that are no longer needed or wanted and even pack and unpack after the move.
What’s just as important: they provide the seniors with the emotional support needed during a very trying time. It’s not easy to be faced with the reality that they must leave their home after decades or even a lifetime. What is equally upsetting is, coming to terms with the limitations of aging.
Children and family members may not be as sensitive to their parent’s emotions about a move like this, or they may be equally uncomfortable. Having a non-family professional may serve as a buffer and a facilitator for everyone.
Senior moving management charges range in pricing from $40 to $120 per person nationwide, with the average price for help costing around $3,000, plus the charge of the moving company.
The money is considered well-spent by many. One family called on a senior moving company when their mother had to leave her long-time home in one state and relocate to an independent senior living community near family members in another state. The siblings reported that they needed help from someone who would be patient and understand the process their mother was going through. The senior mover worked to make the new home layout, as close to the mother’s original house as possible.
The increase in the number of these types of companies is due to the enormous number of Baby Boomers entering retirement. Most will be downsizing, as they leave one-family homes and move to smaller living spaces. With 10,000 turning 65 everyday, a projected 79 million Americans will be 65 or older by 2030. Clearly, aging is a big business.
Reference: Columbus CEO (Jan. 21, 2019) “Estate Planning and Retirement: How to Downsize Like a Diva”
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