Preparing Your Bedroom For Aging In Place

Downsizing your house for retirement is not for everyone.  Some people dream of ditching the McMansion where they raised their children and from which they commuted to toil in corporate America and moving into a tiny house in a senior living community where egrets pass by every morning to feast on worms in the front yard.  Some people even plan to spend their retirement traveling in a RV.  Where to live after you retire is your choice; there are no wrong answers.  You can even choose to stay in your house where you have lived for decades, the place that has become home for generations of your family.  Hosting Christmas dinner for your great-grandchildren before the next generation inherits the house is a perfectly admirable goal.  Staying in a house where you have already finished paying off the mortgage also makes sense from a financial perspective.  An Orange County estate planning lawyer can help you work out the financial and legal logistics of staying in place.

Senior-Friendly Accommodations in the Comfort of Your Own Home

For many families, aging in place makes the most sense from a financial perspective, as well as being the most attractive option as a matter of personal choice.  If you, your spouse, or an elderly parent who lives with you is beginning to have trouble with mobility, some simple upgrades to your house can make home a much safer and more comfortable place than it would be without these upgrades.  You should start with bedroom upgrades for aging in place, since your bedroom is where you are most likely to be alone and where it will be the hardest to get the assistance of other family members who may be asleep in their bedrooms.  These are some simple upgrades to help you get started:

• Motion-activated or sound-activated lighting can prevent falls in your bedroom. It can be anything as simple as the Clapper, famous from TV commercials of the 80s, or as fancy as motion-activated under-bed lighting by GZBTech.  The latter will automatically light up if you get out of bed in the middle of the night so you do not have to walk to the light switch in the dark.
• A lower and firmer bed can make it easier to get out of bed in the morning. Aging in place is as good a reason as any to ditch your old box spring in favor of an elegant platform bed.
• Bed rails make it easier to get in and out of your new lower, firmer bed.

Once you make a few simple changes to your bedroom, aging in place will feel a lot more manageable.

Let Us Help You Today

You don’t have to upend your life just because you are now retired.  An Orlando estate planning lawyer can help you make plans for aging in place, so you and your family can feel comfortable emotionally and financially.  Contact Gierach and Gierach, P.A. for help today.

Source:

usatoday.com/story/money/reviewed/2021/09/03/10-bedroom-upgrades-for-people-who-are-aging-in-place/48813455/