As the population ages, people are thinking about how they want to live out their older years. Many want to avoid moving to a nursing home or assisted living facility, preferring to stay in their homes as long as possible.
Aging in place can be more comfortable and less expensive than living in a facility, but it often requires modifications to an existing home. Those upgrades can be expensive, but planning for those costs and making changes before they’re needed can be beneficial to both older adults and their families.
Changes You May Have to Make to Age In Place
When people get older, they often have trouble walking and standing. Grab bars in the bathroom and shower are common modifications that can make life easier and safer for seniors.
For those who need a wheelchair to get around, navigating a house can be difficult or impossible if doorways aren’t wide enough. Widening doorways can be a costly but necessary project.
Stairs are a common source of accidents. That can be due to difficulty climbing a staircase, as well as poor visibility. Installing a ramp and additional lighting can make living at home safer for seniors.
Reasons to Make Modifications Before You Need Them
You don’t know what the future holds. You don’t know if you will become disabled or what physical limitations you might face. Therefore, you don’t know what types of changes might be required to allow you to age in place.
Getting stuck with an expensive bill you weren’t prepared for is stressful, whether the bill is for safety features in a bathroom or for a roof repair. If you start planning for modifications while you’re working, before you need them, you’ll be able to fit them into your budget and take care of them over a period of time. That means that you won’t have to try to find funds to cover modifications later, when you’re unprepared, no longer working and trying to get by on a fixed income.
If you don’t prepare, your health deteriorates and it becomes necessary to make immediate changes to your home for you to live there safely. But, you and your relatives may not be in a position to pay for those upgrades. You may have no choice but to move into a nursing home or an assisted living facility.
Prepare for the Future
You may not want to think about how your health may decline or make expensive changes to your home that you might not need, but the truth is, it’s likely that you will face challenges in the future. It’s better to prepare for that possibility when you’re relatively young and have a steady income than to find yourself with few options later. Thinking about aging in place now and making changes over time will put you in a better position down the road.
