As older adults approach retirement, there are limitless ways to spend your retirement years. One of the first decisions most adults near retirement make is where they want to retire. This is usually an important decision between aging in place or rightsizing to a new home. There are positives and negatives to each decision, but the best way to determine your next step is considering the unique needs for your lifestyle, physical and mental health.

Before deciding if rightsizing or downsizing is the right fit, you should consider five major factors.

For families who take an active role in caring for their loved ones, monitoring and maintaining the best possible care can be a challenge. Decision making and addressing daily needs can be complex for family caregivers. If you have a loved one who is the primary decision maker for a family member’s care, you can help support them to help them with their extra layer of responsibility even if you aren’t directly involved with every decision made.

See valuable tips to help you stay in the loop with your loved one’s care and be a pillar of support for any family caregiver in your life.

When you think of your parent’s well-being you often think of physical health and safety. One of the larger challenges many older adults encounter is loneliness in the form of social isolation. As we age, it may become difficult to stay social. Factors like the loss of loved ones and friends, mobility and overall health often impact how social older adults can be and create social isolation. 

If you notice your parent or loved one could benefit from being social, you should encourage it. According to research by the Center for Advancing Health, older adults “who are socially active and maintain or increase interactions with others as they age have a slower progression of health declines than” those less socially engaged.

After living in a home for decades, a home can become packed with items connected to memories, amazing moments, and life events. When you visit your parents, you are more likely to notice the accumulation of items from 30, 40 or 50 years ago while they may not notice it. It’s possible they have become “clutter blind” since these items are associated with memories and moments. You are sandwiched between their belongings and your own. 

If you want to help your parents let go of some of their clutter so they can leap into the next season of their lives, we have 7 steps to get you started.

Is it time to move to a larger or smaller space? Whether choosing to move now or later, you should start asking the right questions today. Read more to help you evaluate relocating, map out the list of benefits you wish to gain, and what you’d prefer to leave behind in your current space.

You’ve decided to move, have chosen a new place and are excited to get ready for what’s next. The hardest part for many people is getting started on what that move looks like after you’ve found your new residence.

Moving can be both a physical and psychological process. From furniture pieces and photos that hold memories, to deciding what to purge, to the labor it takes to move each item, a plan can help simplify the moving process for anyone.

Clutter can quickly sneak into every room of your home. Each room should have designated spaces for everything that belongs in the room. We have tips to help you decide what should stay and what should go in your bedrooms, the living room, as well as the kitchen and dining room.

Preparing for the new adventure of retirement can be both exciting and overwhelming. As you approach retirement it’s common to make decisions on what you want to do in the next phase of your life. Whether you plan to age in place, move to a smaller home, or travel the world, there’s one common denominator; you should prepare for whatever you want to do.

One of the ways to prepare for retirement is rightsizing or downsizing personal items through liquidation. According to financial wellness experts at GreenPath.com, assets can include large items or small personal items like jewelry and antiques.

March is the ultimate sign Spring is on the horizon. According to retail experts at Offers.com, March typically has a lull in sales for most consumer purchases, because “it’s a month without major shopping holidays. But even without important commerce dates like Labor Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday, March does bring its share of noteworthy deals.”

See our top items to purchase for the month of March to ensure you’re shopping smart.

Smart shoppers love to stretch their dollar by finding quality items at a fraction of the retail cost. One way to spend wisely is shopping resale. Some everyday and leisure items like those on our list below can save you tons in comparison to retail prices.

Resale sites like CTBids.com are running over with gently used and brand new items you may be looking for. Before shopping resale, read our tips on buying these five items you should always purchase “new to you.”