If your parents are elderly, you may have a difficult decision to make. Do you move closer to your aging parents, or do you continue to manage things from a distance? There are several points to consider when deciding what’s suitable for you and your senior loved one. Age Brilliantly outlines a few here.
Is it Time To Move Closer?
Certain situations may call for a new living arrangement.
An aging parent may start experiencing more medical or emotional issues. For example, deterioration in grooming could indicate depression, irritability could indicate chronic pain, and an inability to recall last week’s conversation could indicate dementia.
On the other hand, many older adults simply need help with everyday tasks, including bathing or meal preparation. Home and property maintenance can also start to become too challenging.
What Living Arrangement Is Best?
Once you determine your senior’s needs, you’ll be in a better position to discuss what living arrangement is best for them.
If you’re thinking about becoming your parent’s primary caregiver, realize that this role can become a full-time job. The AARP estimates that the average family caregiver spends 24.4 hours per week providing care. On the other hand, if you work during the day or you’re not quite ready to help your parent get in and out of the shower, for example, you can arrange for in-home care through an elder care agency such as Comfort Keepers, At Home Care Staffing, or Care at Home.
If caring for your senior’s home has become too burdensome, an assisted living community is probably the answer. In addition to housing, these facilities provide personal care assistance, including with bathing, eating, and toileting. They often also offer dining services, medication management, and social and recreational activities.
Nursing homes, however, provide more intensive medical care services for individuals with chronic illnesses and injuries. In addition to 24/7 nursing care, they also offer specialized care services, such as intravenous drug therapy, dialysis, and respiratory therapy.
You’ll also need to consider your own living arrangement, especially if you’re moving your business with you. Logistics in such a case can get tricky, so The Receptionist suggests having a plan in place when moving offices from one location to another. For example, work with your IT team or other tech pros to disassemble and reassemble your equipment as soon as you settle in so you experience minimal downtime. Also carefully label all the boxes with the contents listed so you can unpack as efficiently as possible. Of course, if you work from home, your new place should either have a home office or a dedicated space you can convert into a working area.
Getting Your Senior’s Home Ready for Sale
Once you’ve determined that your senior loved one needs long-term care or more of your help, you may have to get their home ready for sale. Senior moving services, such as Moves for Seniors, can do this for you. They handle everything from packing up your loved one’s home to unpacking it in the new residence.
And speaking of movers, now is the time to start researching professional movers. The housing market continues to be hot in many areas of the country, which means moving companies need plenty of advanced notice so they can coordinate with you on a schedule. Finding reputable and insured pros is as easy as Googling “movers near me” – be sure to read up on customer reviews to confirm their legitimacy and capabilities. Then line up a few quotes in writing so you can make plans ASAP.
Determining How Much Home You Can Afford
If you’ve decided that moving closer to your senior is the way to go, you’ll need to purchase a new home, which a trusted, local real estate agent can help you find. The first step is researching the destination housing market to see how hot it is, and how much homes are going for.
To determine how much you can afford, mortgage companies look at your debt-to-income ratio. This ratio is calculated by adding up your existing monthly debt obligations and dividing this total by your gross monthly income. Mortgage companies like to see this value to be 36% or less.
Moving Closer May Be the Right Decision
Caring for a senior loved one from a distance can be difficult. In some cases, moving closer is the right decision. Even if the ultimate decision is to move your family member into assisted living or a nursing home, visiting them will be much easier if you move closer to them.
Age Brilliantly is an online information portal that can help you make better decisions and plan for your next stage of life. Reach out to discover more today! 800-493-1334
