As people approach retirement (and that word means a lot of different things to different people), there are five distinct stages they go through according to a study conducted by Ameriprise Financial (PDF of study report here). These stages include: 1) Imagination, 2) Anticipation, 3) Liberation, 4) Reorientation, and 5) Reconciliation. As the Ameriprise study points out, “retirement is not a single event…it does not take place in a day, or even in a single year. Instead [the] study reveals that people migrate through distinct and predictable states of retirement—each with its own complex emotions and needs.”
Most people who are purchasing a home in an active adult community are in one of the first three stages of this process. It’s a time of great imagination, anticipation and liberation, which is why buying a new home in these various stages of your life can be such a rewarding event. From my experience of selling many active adult community homes to people in these various stages of retirement, I can tell you the Ameriprise study seems to be right on the money.
The document has a great deal of information to help people understand the retirement process, so I wanted to pass it along to my readers in the hopes it will help you with your plans for the future.
