My New Home

My New Home

West Chester, PA

June 2017

I recently moved from my two bedroom house in Maryland to a one bed room apartment in West Chester, PA. This is the second time I have downsized.  I moved out of my 4 bedroom house in Springfield, PA five years ago.

The building is brand new and filled with all sorts of luxuries and amenities.  Living here is a new expense and I have done the math a hundred times in my head and on paper to make sure I can afford the rent and that it is worth it.

I wanted to live in a college town, a county seat and a place that offered community.  My new place offers all of this and more.  It was just what I was looking to rent.  And when I do the math, I can afford it.  But, like so many of us who are retired, we do the math to all sorts of potential disasters and make up all sorts of horrid scenarios which will lead to financial ruin and we will end up living on the streets.

On my first day here, I met a young man in the elevator. He tells me he has a two-bedroom apartment. He lives alone and he tells me, "I like a lot of space.  I need space." I wanted to give him a little bit of unsolicited advice about living within his income and saving for a rainy day.  But, to my surprise, I kept my mouth shut.

Now that I have meet a few more people, I discovered there are two types of people who tend to live in this building.  Us retirees who feel so lucky to live in this life of luxury and the millenniums who feel as if they deserve this lifestyle right out of the gate.