How Will Our Elder Years Look?

In the future, as a survival tactic for those whose pension plans have failed or become inadequate, or those who do not have a pension plan or 401k, sharing houses may become popular.

One version of house sharing is co-housing, where each family unit owns part of a building, but the common areas are shared. Other people may choose to live and work on farms, although that would appear to be a less popular option.

Perhaps when we were younger we just pictured ourselves spending our elder years in our own house, but for many people that reality may be shifting. Look on the bright side. Having other people around can be a good thing to help keep your spirits up. It worked for a lot of us when we were young and single and shared apartments. Now that we are mature, it might be even easier and more fun.

It makes sense that if you are going to share a house with some people, then you probably would want to choose people with whom you have things in common, such as shared concepts, values, world views, etc.

So it may be a much more urban or suburban thing, rather than people getting together to work on a farm. But if you have a big house, the value of your portfolio has gone down, or perhaps all you have is Social Security, sharing a house might be a win/win.

Perhaps many people never pictured their elder years looking this way, but then again, not so long ago, who would have predicted companies eliminating or reducing retirement plans or watching stocks tank and real estate values plummet?

Several years down the road, sharing a house with like minded people might seem like a real attractive option compared to the alternatives.

Before the onslaught of the global trade agreements, not many people pictured our economy shifting as radically as it has.

Sharing housing in our elder years may offer a good solution for many people.