Thanks to advances in medicine, healthcare, technology, and mostly improved, personal lifestyle choices — we have a two, three, or even four-decade opportunity for a meaningful life beyond what had been considered a normal retirement age. This is an entirely new life stage that has never before existed. It’s an exciting time that was not available to the generations of the past, and that offers nearly limitless opportunities to reinvent yourself.
Now is the time to look at life through a new lens that isn’t distorted by obligation. The things that have defined us for decades are gone. If you’re retired, your job no longer defines you. If you’re an empty nester, your children no longer define you. If you’re widowed or divorced, your spouse no longer defines you. The house that you’ve lived in for decades or the location you’ve called home no longer defines you. When these shackles are removed, there is an emancipation that comes with growing older.
We’re no longer constrained to living linear lives, in which our activities or living situations must be defined by our ages.
There are no longer any arbitrary age-related rules as to what’s possible and acceptable at any stage of our lives. We can go to college at 50, get married at 60, start a business at 70, join the Peace Corps at 75, begin running at 80, take up acting at 90, and write a book at 100.
The same goes for the places we choose to live and the ways we can create a home. You can choose to enter an active adult community at 50 or 60, or maybe you choose to wait until you’re 80+, or never at all. You can downsize to a smaller home in a place you’ve never lived before, or even look to spend your time traveling the country in temporary rentals. You might plan to age in place in your own home, or you might welcome the community and care of a senior living facility one day. The choice of “where” is yours to make.
No matter what you want to do with your later years, and where you want to do it, the truth is this - almost anything is possible, and with the right help, crafting this next chapter can be an incredibly fulfilling period of life. Embrace a supportive community when thinking through your “what’s next.” Find a club, team, or group for the hobbies you are most interested in. Make more time for family and friends, and better yet, make more friends and relationships. Find ways to collect more experiences with others and collect fewer things.
When it comes time to think about how you might want to live out these years, be sure to lean on the help of your local Caring Transitions senior relocation experts. No matter what move you have in mind, our team can create an individualized plan to get you set up in a new location, ready to start living the life of your dreams, right from day one. We’ll handle all the packing, unpacking, physical labor, and transportation so that you can spend more time planning out the ways you want to spend your time in your new location.
Plus, whether through a physical estate sale or on our online auction platform CTBids, your Caring Transitions team can help put some money back in your pocket as you fund your next chapter and downsize and declutter yourself from things you no longer need.
No matter your answers to where, how, what, when, and why, remember that this new life stage is yours, and try to adopt a new belief system that “more is possible!” Your 70s, 80s, 90s, and even 100s can look however you want them to.
Caring Transitions has seen countless examples of older adults who have crafted the life of their dreams in their later years. With more than 325 locations nationwide and more than 100,000 seniors served within Wauwatosa, Greenfield, West Allis, Milwaukee, we know firsthand that this is an exciting time to embrace the unknown and to dream. Bring us along for the journey, and dare to dream big as you imagine your own next chapter.