Reinventing Your Lifestyle – A Formula for Success
Remember those math and science formulas you had to memorize in school? While you may have not used E=mc2 or Speed = distance/time during your everyday life after graduation, chances are you approached major life decisions—which really could be considered “life investments”—with a “formula” of your own. With a car purchase, you looked at gas mileage, ratings and performance, financing terms, and warranties. With selecting a college—whether for yourself or a child—you looked at the available majors, location to home, cost of tuition, percent of students who were employed upon graduation, etc. If investing in real estate, you considered things like rental income, location, renovations needed and related costs, and down payment, weighing out the pros and cons of everything.
If you approached life’s major decisions as life investments, you’ll realize that making a lifestyle change is an investment as well, both financially and emotionally. Just like with past life investments, when looking at senior living options you’ll want to conduct thorough research and carefully weigh your options. What’s the secret behind doing this successfully? We’re about to share the tested and proven formula, which will help you quickly sort out the options and focus on the issues when making this decision. If you follow the steps below in respective order and do the homework before you start looking, you’ll avoid wasting time and energy as well as counteract the feelings of confusion and frustration. In addition, your best option will naturally reveal itself.
The secret formula to follow, in this specific order, is: Risks & Values + Health + Finances = Your Best Option. Now let’s look at each one of the three parts individually and see how it all fits together.
Step 1: Risks & Values
The first component of this formula for success is to define what’s most important to you and what are you comfortable with. This can best be called the “internal research”… the soul searching. Though it may be tricky to start, this can lead to wonderfully rich conversations that are a gift to the entire family. Most people want to start with the financial component, sometimes trying to avoid the internal research all together.
Questions you’ll want to review include everything from “How many times do you want to move?” and “Are you concerned about being a burden to children, family, or friends?” to “If something happened to your spouse, could you maintain your current lifestyle?” Regardless of how much money a person has, where they live or their resistance to making a change, these “soul searching” questions are the best place to start. Your answers to these questions form the foundation for your decision. You’ll be astonished at what you discover after an exploration of your Risks & Values.
We’ll explore the 16 Risks & Values questions in more depth in the next article…coming soon.
Step 2: Health
The state of your health will initially set the direction for your research. Can you start your research by exploring independent living options or do you need to begin at the personal care level? The first thing to do is take a realistic look at the current state of your health. Then project what any current health challenges may present five to ten years into the future. Remember, the better your health the more options you have.
Step 3 Finance
Now it’s time to get a handle on the finances. There is a golden rule with this: “Know Before You Go.” What that means is that you absolutely must know how much money you have to work with before you start looking at specific options. You’d hate to find an option you fall in love with, only to realize it’s financially unrealistic; so start by confirming how much you have in combined capital assets and annual income.
There’s much more to both Health and Finance, which we’ll touch upon in future articles.
Don’t Want to Wait for the Next Articles?
If you’re ready now to learn more, a residency counselor at Moravian Manor Communities is here to help you. Our unique marketing approach is to educate mature adults on their choices and the formula for success.
Contact us for more information on Moravian Manor Communities or a free copy of “Your Formula for Successful, A Practical Guide for Making Your Senior Housing Decision,” written by industry expert Randalyn Kaye.
So remember, do your homework and keep this simple formula in front of you…Risks & Values + Health + Finances = Your Best Option. Look for additional articles coming soon to learn more about Your Formula for Success. You’ll be amazed how it will guide and simplify your research and decision-making process.