I cannot imagine H and I would shop together - we tend to go in different directions. Some people seem to like to grocery shop together, but not us. If we lived in an area where it doesn’t make sense to have another vehicle, due to subway or other public transportation…and eventually we may not need a 2nd car in retirement. But I suspect we always will have 2 cars if insurance rates still make it worthwhile.
It is hard for me to imagine the driver-less car situation, but as others have said about the technology…H and my phone are only talk and text, but when we have to replace them…just hate paying for data charges when we can avoid.
Due to some stuff, we lived without cable and internet in the house for several months, and I don’t miss them. But we certainly get the max out of our unlimited data.
DH is semi-retired now, and I ran into a friend of his at Target who wondered why he wasn’t with me. My reply -“It doesn’t take 2 of us to do this.” We don’t grocery shop together, and only do other shopping together if we’re making a major purchase (car, appliances, etc).
Mr. B patiently waited for me last night to go shopping, as usual. We hit Costco and Home Depot. We usually shop together, unless it is for clothes or a quick run to Tacoma Screw.
There are too many people and two many cars in NJ but no one in our family is giving up their car keys willingly.
On the other hand, IF driverless cars ever become a SAFE option, they would be life changing for our special needs nondriving adult daughter.
We spend much time finding, arranging, monitoring, paying for transportation for her.
And we don’t plan to become her personal chauffeurs in retirement.
Is anyone planning for retirement with the expectation that they are or will be physically disabled and thus will need a home and transportation with accommodations? I’m thinking about my former in-laws, who still live in their own home but are only able to do so because my ex-husband lives there and takes care of them. Neither can get into a vehicle on their own and both use wheelchairs some or all of the time.
I know I have a progressive chronic health condition and we have a fairly accessible house but could use wider doorways if we eventually need walkers or wheelchairs.
We have been told by an occupational therapist that our one story home is perfect for aging in place.
I hope we will not need additional accommodations for many years but we have the finances to modify our home as needed. We will also be able to hire taxis, Uber, lyft, or transport services, as needed.
Currently, my folks who are 88 and 92 are still walking fairly well with NO walkers or canes or wheelchairs or scooters, and pretty healthy, so we suspect we will likely be similar. Their home was much too large for them to maintain (5 bedroom, 3 bath plus swimming pool) but our home is a fraction of the size (3bedroom, 2bath, no pool) so should be more manageable.
@rosered55 , yes, dh and I do plan on needing some accommodations in the future. I’ve already had to use a wheelchair more than once and anticipate needing one again at some point.
Our house is much larger than we need or want now, but it has the benefit of 36" wide doors, easy access to garages and the backyard, and an elevator for when we want to get to the basement during tornado warnings. We may modify our large shower for easier wheelchair access, but the bathroom is spacious and already has reinforced walls with attractive grab bars in several locations. We may remodel the kitchen to allow me to do more from a wheelchair. There are enough bedrooms with en suite bathrooms that we could have a live-in caregiver and still have room for overnight guests.
Transportation is another concern. A neighbor uses a special bus service provided at a low cost by the county. We hope that other transportation will be available, too. Dh loves the idea of a self-driving car.
If we ever move near our much hoped for future grandchildren, then we know the builder we’d likely use. His firm has already said they’d modify one of their large one story plans to permit 36" doors and other minor changes. I’d be more comfortable driving there than here for as long as I can, in part because I could get to any needed shops, services and doctors’ offices via streets with 25 - 35 mph speed limits instead of a congested highway with some challenging grade changes that seem to encourage some drivers to run red lights.
I’ve got poor eyesight and already avoid driving at night. I prefer someplace with good transportation options so I don’t become dependent on DH or others to be able to get around.
Our House2 has zero step entry and and enough office/den space on the main floor to convert it to a bedroom suite. I am hoping that we will never have to do that.
@rosered55 , we have no disabilities but are looking to transition to a house for the next 20 years. Our first pass, we designed a house with an elevator. Alas, we did not win the bid. In our second pass, we would have created a first floor MBR suite. Ultimately, we decided not to buy the house. In an ideal world, we have one floor living for us and only use other floor(s) for guests and, in a new build, we have an elevator.
One of the things we were looking for when searching for a house on Cape Cod was the ability to live on one level. The house we got has everything but the laundry on the main level, and I’m sure we can do something for that if needed. It’s two steps up to enter the house, which would be easy enough to ramp.
We are very fortunate to have bought a comfortable three bedroom three bath one level ranch home many years ago , which now has everything that we need to age in place.
And since we are in the heart of Silicon Valley and have access to the best Drs as well as Uber, I don’t need to worry about getting around town if I or DH are no longer able to drive.
" Some people seem to like to grocery shop together," - That’s me an DH. After doing it for 25 years mostly by myself, I give him the choice of going alone (which her rarely does, unless I am busy with work on-call stuff that weekend) of coming with me. It’s our usual Saturday “date”, often combined with brunch or lunch out together.
I have a sibling (was not a good student) who graduated from a local state college, worked for a same company for 33 years (9 to 5 job) in a not very high management position, and will get $500k in pension and $500k more in 401k AND the same health plan for several hundred dollars per month. A house worth $500k all paid for and not even 59 yet. The company offering an incentive amount to persuade my sibling to voluntarily retire every year but didn’t take the offer so far because she was too many years away from receiving SS checks. I guess my point is she will be just as comfortably off as some of her doctors friends who studied a lot harder and more and worked longer hours. That almost free health plan which her company provides her and her spouse is worth a lot of money.
Her spouse took the same deal and retired several years ago, so they will have 2 million dollars, SS checks and cheap, good health insurance. They didn’t make a lot of money in salaries but they are retiring rich.
Your sibling did very well! That is great. (And even better since it sounds like they were savers). But there are fewer and fewer places (especially in private companies) with pension plan and retirement healthcare.
My relative works as an MD for large HMO. He has a vested pension and lifetime medical insurance for him and spouse. The newer employees don’t get nearly as good benefits, nor do the lower level employees. He’s one of the few nongovernment employees I know who will get s pension and health insurance (plus he’s saved and invested VERY well).
So are the upcoming Holidays making people think about retirement and where they want to live? Thinking about a vacation home? Seems like a time for dreaming or making dreams come true!
Other things are making me think about long-term plans. The dog is dying; when I got the house in the divorce, I told myself that I could put off thinking about moving until I no longer had a dog. I thought that would be four or five years in the future. Now it looks like it will be next month. Several older neighbors are moving and while I wasn’t best buds with them, the fact of them leaving has reminded me that people eventually do move on, especially to smaller homes.
