Aging in Place: Budgeting to Stay in Your Home
Most retirees want to stay in their own home. Doing it well takes a budget for the house and for the help you may need later. Here’s what to plan for.
Staying in the home you know, near friends and family, is what most people want as they get older. It can also be one of the most affordable options, as long as you plan for the costs that come with an aging house and an aging owner.
Three kinds of costs
- Making the home safe. One-time updates that make the home easier to live in.
- Keeping the home up. Repairs, replacements, insurance and property taxes, year after year.
- Getting help. Paid help with chores, errands or personal care, often the largest cost later on.
1. Making the home safe
Simple updates can prevent the falls and injuries that often force a move:
| Update | Rough cost |
|---|---|
| Grab bars, handheld shower, better lighting | $500–$2,000 |
| Stair lift | $3,000–$10,000 |
| Walk-in shower conversion | $8,000–$20,000 |
| First-floor bedroom and bath addition | $50,000 or more |
Illustrative ranges. Costs vary widely by home and region; get local quotes.
Original Medicare doesn’t cover grab bars, bath seats, raised toilet seats or home modifications like ramps, because they’re considered comfort or convenience items. It may cover some prescribed medical equipment, such as a hospital bed. Some Medicare Advantage plans offer a small allowance for safety items, so check your plan.
2. Keeping the home up
An older home owned by an older owner tends to cost more each year. Plan for:
- Big replacements: roof, heating and cooling, water heater and appliances. Each can cost thousands and rarely arrives on schedule.
- Tasks you’ll pay someone to do: yard work, snow removal, gutters and ladders.
- Insurance and property taxes, which tend to rise. Many states and counties offer property tax relief for older homeowners, such as exemptions, freezes or deferrals. Ask your county assessor what’s available.
3. Getting help
Paid help at home is where costs can climb fastest. In 2024, the national median cost of a home health aide was about $34 an hour, or $77,792 a year for full-time care. Medicare doesn’t cover long-term custodial care, the everyday help with bathing, dressing and meals.
| Hours per week | Per year at $34/hour |
|---|---|
| 10 | $17,680 |
| 20 | $35,360 |
| 44 (full time) | $77,792 |
Based on the 2024 national median for a home health aide. Local rates vary.
The Long-Term Care lesson covers ways to pay for care, including insurance.
Make a plan while it’s easy
- Walk through your home and list what would be hard with a bad knee or a walker.
- Do the simple updates now, while you can manage the project yourself.
- List the big replacements coming in the next 10 years and roughly when.
- Decide what would make you move, and talk about it with family before it’s urgent.
How Blueprint approaches this
- Your Housing line covers property taxes, insurance, utilities, HOA fees, landscaping and repairs, in today’s dollars, with 3% annual inflation.
- With Plus, add a new roof, a walk-in shower or a home addition as a Future Large Purchase in the year you expect it. Large purchases are paid from your Growth Engine, with a Funding Gap flag if Growth can’t cover them.
- A what-if scenario (Plus) with a higher annual spending level shows whether your plan could absorb paid help later in retirement.
Planning to age in place:
Test what you just learned
Answer four quick questions to test what you just learned.
Part of Housing in retirement: See the full Housing guide →
Budget to stay in your home
Add the big repairs and updates as Large Purchases and see your paycheck year by year.
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Blueprint University →Sources: Genworth and CareScout, Cost of Care Survey 2024; AARP, “Does Medicare Cover Home Safety Equipment?”; Medicare.gov, Long-term care.
Blueprint Tomorrow provides educational planning tools, not individualized investment, tax, insurance or legal advice. Nothing in this lesson is a recommendation to take any specific action with your accounts. Coverage and costs vary by plan and region; confirm before you buy.