Jane Bennett Clark, senior editor of personal finance at Kiplinger Magazine, has a lot of good advice to give about the downsizing process. She reminds us that there may be costs to downsizing homeowners did not consider! Home upgrades, packing and transportation, condo association fees, rent, and storage units are just a few of the surprising costs associated with moving out of a larger home into a smaller one.
Despite these costs, Jane advocates downsizing as a great strategy for near-retirees who find themselves short on retirement savings and need to catch up. Retirees should do the math and consider all the factors before choosing downsizing.
"When I look at my retirement stash," writes Jane, "I have to admit it's kind of small. When I look at my house, I realize it's kind of big. And when I consider the two together, I think that maybe I should downsize and use the equity in my house to buy a condo or add to my retirement savings and rent..."
You can read more at: http://www.kiplinger.com/article/retirement/T010-C022-S002-downsizing-costs-add-up.html#
Jane Bennett Clark is a senior editor at Kiplinger's Personal Finance.
Jane Bennett Clark is a senior editor at Kiplinger's Personal Finance.