Insights info Life in Retirement

An August 2014 study by Merrill Lynch Retirement conducted in partnership with Age Wave shows that 65% of retirees say they are living in the best home of their lives. Additional insights about life in retirement from the study include:

• At age 61, the majority of people say they feel free to choose where they most want to live
• Four out of five Americans age 65+ are homeowners and more than 7 in 10 have fully paid off their mortgages.
• About half of retirees didn’t downsize in their last move and three in ten up-sized into a larger home, with a top reason being that they wanted to have a home large  enough for family members to visit and stay.
• Just 7% of retirees have moved into age-restricted retirement communities.
• Among people age 65+ who moved last year, most chose to remain in the same state, 17% of those who moved last year relocated to a different state or part of the country.
• One third of retirees say they want to stay where they are during retirement, with most saying that they are staying because they love their home.
• Are those retirees improving their homes? Age 55+ households account for almost half of all spending on home renovations. Are they making their homes more age-friendly? Most of the renovations were to make the home look nicer, feel more comfortable, or more versatile.
• Would retirees prefer to spend time in a community that has a large percentage of retirees? The study shows that retirees prefer more of a diversity in ages among their neighbors than younger people do.