Rightsizing Now vs. Later: The Hidden Costs That Crush Retirement Dreams

Описание: Most adults over 55 are sitting on more wealth in their walls than in their retirement accounts—and it feels safer to just stay put “a little longer.” In this episode of Next Act Ninjas, Rachael Van Pelt, PhD, breaks down why waiting to rightsize your home until your 70s or 80s is often the riskiest move on the board.

You’ll hear the story of two similar couples who make very different choices: one defers everything until 75, the other rightsizes during their Go-Strong decade. Same starting point, completely different outcomes for stress, mobility, and money.

Rachael unpacks the hidden costs of delaying a move: rising maintenance and repair bills, creeping utilities, taxes, and insurance, plus the huge opportunity cost of keeping more than half of your net worth trapped in your walls instead of working for you. You’ll also learn how market risk, sequence-of-return risk, and the “comfort trap” can quietly crush the retirement you thought you were protecting.

Rachael walks you through practical steps to get out of passive waiting and into strategic action: how to calculate your true housing cost, assess how concentrated your wealth is in your home, and use your Go-Strong years to design a home and lifestyle that support the next 20–30 years—before a health event or crisis forces your hand.

Whether your best move is to sell and buy something easier to live in, unlock equity with a reverse mortgage, or turn your current home into an income-producing asset, this episode will help you see the real trade-offs of “rightsizing now vs. later” so you can protect both your healthspan and wealthspan.

Next steps:
👉 Take the free Rightsizing Readiness Quiz https://bit.ly/4aiIBxx
👉Save the date for our next Rightsize Without Regret Workshop https://www.rightsizeretirement.com/

Chapters
00:00 The Risks of Waiting to Rightsize
01:39 Two Couples, Two Timelines: Rightsizing Now vs Waiting to 75
04:01 Your Go-Strong Decade: When Health and Wealth Curves Cross
04:59 The “Paid-Off” Myth: Why Your Forever Home Isn’t Low-Cost
05:23 Hidden Money Leaks: Repairs, Taxes, Insurance, and Utilities
06:51 Understanding Opportunity Costs
08:01 Market Risk and Sequence-of-Return Risk: The Double Hit of Delaying
09:34 Execution Costs: Decluttering, Moving, and the High Price of Overwhelm
10:54 Cognitive Load and Comfort Traps: Why Future You Won’t Want This Job
12:43 Passive vs. Strategic Waiting: Aging in Place on Purpose
13:37 Action Steps: Calculating True Housing Costs and Equity Concentration
17:04 Thought Experiment: Crisis Move vs Planned Rightsizing Timeline
18:59 Next Steps: Rightsizing Readiness Quiz & Rightsized Home and Health Review

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Rightsized Home & Health Review https://bit.ly/4aiIBxx

Rachael Van Pelt, PhD is a retired healthspan scientist turned Realtor and longevity coach helping 55+ adults rightsize with confidence. If you’re unsure whether to move, stay put, or unlock equity, she’ll help you run the numbers, weigh the tradeoffs, and build a plan that supports both health longevity and financial freedom. Rachael works locally (in Colorado) as a Realtor and nationally as a coach. If you want expert guidance for your rightsizing journey, book a free strategy session using the above link.
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⚠️ Disclaimer: This podcast is meant for educational purposes only. We do not accept liability for any loss or damage incurred from you acting or not acting as a result of watching any of our publications. You acknowledge that you use the information we provide at your own risk. Do your research and work with licensed professionals that know your specific situation.

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Copyright Notice: This podcast and our YouTube video contain dialogue, music, and images that are the property of Rachael Van Pelt. You are authorized to share the video link and channel and embed this video in your website or others as long as a link back to our YouTube channel is provided. @drrachaelvanpelt