Whilst the dream for many people is getting their working lives over with, enough money saved up and a pension that will allow them to enjoy their golden years, the realism of being retired is sometimes not as good as the thought of how retired life will be.24
For many people when they reach retirement age, a lot of things will have changed. The need for less space could mean that they will consider downsizing, or the lack of finances available could potentially enforce this need to move to somewhere smaller. Or, the potential to relocate to be nearer to family could be a major consideration, as families are now living further apart than ever before, which means when the time comes for retirement, the need or want to spend more time with the grandkids is potentially set to grow.
When retirement comes knocking on the door, unless you have a lot of savings, a good pension or both, there are often financial considerations that might require big changes in your life. One of the most common is downsizing on your property, which not only opens more financial freedom, but makes managing a property as you get older far easier. As we get older, trying to keep on top of a 4 bed house, with lots of stairs and rooms can be a challenge for even the best of us, which means moving to a smaller, 2 bed bungalow could be a big win.
But of course, even though we can downsize our property easily enough, all of the possessions and items that we have built up over the past many decades all need a home as well, but quite often, this is not possible, as trying to fit the possessions of a 5 bedroom home with a garage into a 2 bedroom bungalow is just not going to work. Therefore, self storage facilities across the country will often see retired people turning to self storage, as it means they can downsize quickly and effectively, without the need to lose all of their possessions in a rush. This way, they can keep everything they do not need at that moment in time, and then slowly sort through what they do want to keep and what they don’t at their own pace.
Leaving a home that you know and love after often many years, and of course, many memories, is going to be tough enough as it is, which is why utilising a self storage facility gives you time and space to do things as you want to, rather than rushing to decisions that you might end up regretting later down the line. Add to the fact that most storage facilities are flexible in terms of allowing you to upgrade or downgrade as you need to, your unit can change as your needs change, allowing you to keep the right unit at the right price dependant on your current needs.
And, as we mention previously, the retirement time is often fitting to move nearer to family, which is once again where a self storage facility can become the perfect partner in the relocation, acting as a short-term bridge between moves, and then allowing people the time to settle into their new home, without being surrounded with hundreds of boxes of possessions that there might just not be the room for. Many people do move nearer to family upon retirement, as the need to be local for a job or career is no longer relevant, which means more time to spend with sons and daughters and of course grandchildren.
So, when it comes to retirement, never forget about just how important your local self storage facility could well be, as when the time comes, or if it is here now or approaching fast, it really could give you the flexibility to make the changes that you need to, want to or have to.