The tiny home trend has become a very popular topic among retirees and millennials and those who want to downsize and spend less money. A tiny house might actually be a great idea for your aging parent(s) or if you want to change your living situation in retirement, there is less maintenance for the home since there is less square footage and in many cases it’s cheaper than a full-sized home.
Millennials are notorious for minimalist practices and trying to save money and retire comfortably or early (if you missed our article, New Millennial Retirement Method: Spending Nothing and Trying to Retire Decades Early, read it here). Millennials are also into the tiny house trend, yet another millennial trend that could be extremely beneficial if you are preparing to retire or trying to figure out what is next for your aging parents.
A tiny house is, well tiny, they rarely exceed 500 square feet. They tend to be more environmentally friendly, fit the minimalist lifestyle, and they are portable. The median cost to buy a tiny home according Business Insider is $59,884. Of course, the cost to get your tiny home all depends on if you build or buy, location, how high end you want it, etc.
You might be wondering why you would consider a tiny home when there are senior living communities that are small apartments themselves, but tiny homes are typically mobile and ultimately cheaper. For those considering a tiny home for retirement, if travel is important or you want the option to change location, your tiny home can easily go with you. For aging parents, a tiny house allows parents to feel they are still in control if they sell their house and design their new tiny home. Additionally, according to Retirement Living, the cost of independent living communities for retirees ranges from$1,500 and $10,000 per month and for assisted living communities, the median price is $3,628 per month (in 2016).
So, I’ve said that tiny living is cheaper, but not told you how much, let’s look at the tiny house community in Orlando that was recently discussed in a Business Insider article, “6 Owners Of Tiny Homes Reveal How Much They Spend Each Month On Housing”. According to the article, the residents of the tiny homes in this community spend less than $1,000 each month on their home-related expenses and are saving around $2000 per month. If money talks, then these numbers are persuasive.
We are only scratching the surface of what tiny living is like, and there are other cost factors, but this is certainly an interesting trend to consider if you are retiring soon or maybe want to consider having your aging parents move close to you but not in with you. They also open up other possibilities since they can be mobile. You may wonder why not get an RV or mobile home, but a tiny home can be fully customized. If you want to dive deeper into the world of tiny houses, click on any of links in this post, type tiny home or tiny house into Google, or here is a link to check out the “84 Best Tiny Houses 2019”.
So, what do tiny homes have to do with estate planning? Well, any good estate plan also factors in your retirement plan. As we all know, the cost of retiring is only increasing, and people are working longer or part time in retirement just to maintain quality of life. Downsizing and cutting housing costs could be effective approach to decreasing your retirement costs so you can enjoy being retired more and work less.
If you want to learn about other trends and how they can relate to estate planning, retirement, and other areas, explore our blog and follow us on social media!
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