Introduction 1 About This Book 2 Foolish Assumptions 2 Icons Used in This Book 3 Beyond the Book 4 Where to Go from Here 4 Part 1: Getting Started with Downsizing 7 Chapter 1: Downsizing in a Nutshell 9 Downsizing: Who, What, When, Where, and Why? 10 Who? 10 What? 11 When? 12 Where? 12 Why? 13 Envisioning Your Future 14 Navigating a Major Lifestyle Transition 14 Getting All Your Ducks in a Row 16 Choosing a lifestyle and housing 16 Establishing your timeline 18 Creating to-do lists 18 Drafting a budget 19 Protecting and Leveraging Your Assets 20 Decluttering Basics 20 Moving Out and Moving On 22 Addressing your changing priorities 22 Selling your home 23 Buying a new home 23 Exploring other living arrangements 24 Our Downsizing Experience 25 Chapter 2: Deciding Whether Downsizing Is Right for You (or Your Parents) 29 Recognizing Common Reasons People Downsize 30 Weighing the Pros and Cons of Downsizing 32 Potential benefits of downsizing 32 Potential downsizing drawbacks 33 Analyzing Your Situation and Mindset 34 Examining your situation 34 Taking stock of your thoughts and feelings 36 Considering Your Loved Ones 37 Making sure you''re on the same page as your spouse (or siblings) 38 Listening to your kids'' opinions 39 Letting close friends and neighbors in on it 41 Making the Tough Call for an Aging Loved One 42 Settling a Major Dilemma: To Sell or Not to Sell Your Home 43 Chapter 3: Envisioning Your Future: Lifestyle and Location 45 Building Your Vision 46 Complete our lifestyle questionnaire 46 List your must-haves, nice-to-haves, and please-no''s 48 Build a vision board 48 Gather more details in vision folders 49 Choosing a Location: Factors to Consider 51 Settled or nomadic 51 Foreign or domestic 53 Terrain 55 Climate 55 Size/population 56 Affordability 57 Employment opportunities 57 Health care 58 Proximity to friends and family 59 Activities, entertainment, and restaurants 59 Getting around 60 Crime rates 61 Public amenities and cultural centers 61 School system 62 Existing property or new construction 62 Opting for a Nomadic Existence 64 Researching Locations 65 Test-Driving a Location or Lifestyle 65 Chapter 4: Laying the Groundwork 67 Developing a Positive Mindset 68 Consulting with Family Members (or Not) 69 Teaming up with your partner 69 Deciding how much input you want and from whom 70 Getting everyone else on the same page 73 Tabulating Your Net Worth and Monthly Income 74 Distinguishing between Essentials and Extras 76 Drawing Up Preliminary Plans 77 Drafting a budget 77 Creating a packing list 79 Making a to-do list 79 Scheduling activities 80 Delegating duties 81 Chapter 5: Rallying the Troops 83 Tapping Your Family for Help 84 Knowing the type of help family members can provide 84 Recognizing the type of help you don''t want 85 Getting a Little Help from Your Friends 85 Hiring Professionals 86 A financial advisor 87 A certified public accountant 87 Attorneys 88 Appraisers 89 Real estate agents 89 A bank, mortgage company, or loan officer 90 A title company 91 A home inspector or builder 91 Downsizing pros 92 Movers 92 An interior designer 92 Health-care professionals 93 Delegating and Coordinating with Team Members 94 Motivating Your Crew 95 Helping a Loved One Downsize 95 Just talk about it 96 Ease the transition 97 Start downsizing the least-used areas 98 Provide emotional support 98 Make it fun 99 Part 2: Protecting and Leveraging Your Assets 101 Chapter 6: Getting a Handle on Your Finances 103 Calculating Your Net Worth 104 Gauging Your Cash Flow 107 Tabulating your monthly and annual income 108 Estimating your monthly and annual expenses 110 Calculating your cash flow 112 Leveraging the power of debt to help finance your dreams 112 Accounting for Medical Insurance and Health-care Costs 113 Planning to Live on a Fixed Income 116 Exploring ways to trim expenses 117 Exploring ways to generate additional income 121 Chapter 7: Planning Your Estate 125 Getting up to Speed on Estate Planning Basics 126 Step 1: Preparing Your Will(s) 127 Writing a simple will 129 Writing a joint will 130 Writing a living will 131 Knowing when to use a testamentary trust will 132 Step 2: Keeping Your Valuable Assets Out of Probate 132 Steering clear of probate without a trust 133 Using a trust to protect your assets 135 Deciding how to take title when buying property 137 Step 3: Creating a Power of Attorney 139 Step 4: Ensuring You Have Some Control over Medical Decisions 141 Step 5: Planning Your Business Succession 141 Step 6: Buying Life Insurance (or Not) 142 Step 7: Documenting Your End-of-Life Plan 143 Step 8: Gathering and Organizing Essential Documents 144 Step 9: Completing an Estate Planning Checklist 145 Chapter 8: Using Your Home to Generate Income 149 Leasing Your Home (or a Part of It) 150 Taking on the role of landlord 151 Using a property management company 152 Running your own bed and breakfast 153 Selling Your Home 154 Borrowing Against Your Home to Cash Out Equity 155 Making the Most of a Reverse Mortgage 157 Part 3: Decluttering: Sell It, Give It Away, or Trash It 161 Chapter 9: Sorting Your Belongings 163 Mastering Decluttering Basics 164 Stop Cluttering 166 Decluttering One Room at a Time 167 Bedrooms 167 Bathrooms 170 Kitchen 171 Living room 172 Office 173 Laundry room 174 Garage/shed 176 Sorting Your Stuff into Six Categories 178 Keep 179 Store 179 Sell 180 Give away 181 Donate 181 Toss 182 Chapter 10: Digitizing Photos, Videos, and Documentation 183 Exploring Your Digital Storage Options 184 Internal drives 185 External drives 185 Cloud storage 186 Social media storage 188 Photo processor storage 189 Eliminating Unnecessary Documents, Photos, and Videos 189 Downsizing your document collection 189 Deciding which photos to keep 191 Paring down your video collection 192 Scanning Photos and Documents 192 Do it yourself 192 Hire it out 194 Transforming Photos into Memorabilia 195 Digitizing Your Video Collection 196 Do it yourself 196 Hire a pro 197 Chapter 11: Selling Stuff You No Longer Want or Need 199 Finding Out How Much Something Is Worth 200 Exploring Ways to Sell Your Belongings 203 Estate auction 203 Estate sale 204 Garage/yard sale 206 Online listing 206 Hiring someone to sell your stuff 207 Selling Your Belongings Online 209 Hosting an Estate Sale 211 Before 211 During 213 After 214 Conducting a Garage Sale 214 Chapter 12: Giving Away Some Stuff 217 Returning Items to Your "Kids" 218 Being Prepared for Disappointment 219 Deciding Which Family Member Gets the Family''s Treasures 220 Offering Your Belongings to Family Members and Others 221 Donating Items to Nonprofits 222 Salvation Army 222 Vietnam Veterans of America 223 AMVETS 224 Goodwill Industries 225 Habitat for Humanity 226 The Arc 226 Local nonprofit groups 227 Pushing It to the Curb 227 Chapter 13: Storing Stuff You Can''t Part With 229 Reconsidering: Will You Really Ever Need This Item? 230 Exploring Your Storage Options 231 Friends or relatives 231 Portable storage containers 232 Self-storage units 233 Peer-to-peer storage options 234 Protecting Your Valuables 235 Home safes 236 Safety-deposit boxes 237 Insuring Your Valuables 238 Chapter 14: Disposing of Your Remaining Belongings 239 Recycling as Much as Possible 239 Having Your Junk Hauled Off in Dumpster 241 Disposing of Toxic Items 243 Hiring a Company to Haul Away Your Junk 244 Part 4: Moving Out and Moving In 245 Chapter 15: Gimme Shelter: Choosing a Home 247 Finding Your Place in the World: Location, Location, Location 248 Deciding Whether to Buy or Rent 249 Deciding Whether to Build or Buy 250 Estimating the Living Space You''ll Need 252 Total square footage 253 Rooms and room sizes 254 Living room and dining room or office/den? 255 Entertainment areas 255 Office space 256 Outdoor living areas -- porches, decks, balconies 256 Pool or hot tub (or both) 257 Basement (or not) 257 Garage/parking 258 Storage space 258 Considering Mobility and Accessibility 259 Exploring Your Housing Options 261 Traditional house 261 Apartment 262 Condo 263 Granny pod (aka mother-in-law cottage) 264 Tiny home 264 Mobile home 26.