Latest news with #NancyButler
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Home Paid Off and Ready To Retire — 4 Questions From Experts To Decide if You Should Stay or Sell
Congratulations on paying off your house before retiring! It's a huge milestone. But will that house continue serving you through your retirement years? Check Out: Read Next: Retirement and financial experts urge you to ask these four questions to make the best housing decision for your personal needs. What Future Costs Will Your House Require? Some newer houses require little maintenance work. Others require five figures in upkeep costs every year. Financial planner Nancy Butler of urged homeowners entering retirement to ask themselves some direct questions. 'If the cost of property tax and other costs to live in the home were to increase, could you still afford to live there? How long will it be before the home needs major repairs such as a new roof, appliances, and so on? Would you be able to live in your home comfortably with only minor upgrades if you could no longer manage stairs or needed ambulatory assistance?' Don't ignore yardwork and exterior maintenance, either. If you or your spouse currently does the maintenance work, the time may come when that's no longer practical. Also factor in condo fees and homeowners insurance premiums as you map out your likely future costs. Explore More: Does It Make More Sense To Downsize? Most retirees don't need a three- or four-bedroom house. It simply adds more house to maintain, to heat, to cool, to power. Condos, townhomes, or smaller single-family homes typically require far less upkeep. They also cost less to own and maintain across the board. Even so, downsizing should fit into your larger plan for where you want to spend the rest of your life. John Enwere, certified nursing assistant and founder of senior care startup Caringene, presses retirees to think holistically about their retirement housing. 'Downsizing isn't just about the money; it's about the quality of life. Yes, you may walk away with $300K to $500K in cash, but where are you going? Will downsizing create a sense of isolation, or put you closer to your family and friends?' What's Your Housing Plan as You Age? Your current home may — or may not — make a good home for aging in place. An ideal home for aging in place allows for single-story living with no required stairs. It also sits in a walkable area, where you don't need to drive to reach groceries, restaurants and other amenities. Most retirees also want to live as close to friends and family as possible. All of these factors go into choosing your 'forever home,' or looking into assisted living communities. 'A newer home that has only one floor, or an assisted living facility or other senior housing may make the most sense,' added Butler. 'Moving to a home suitable for aging in place can help you maintain your independence longer.' In fact, she herself strategically downsized when she retired to let her age in place. 'Our home was in great shape, but it required taking stairs both inside and out. We sold the house, and designed and built a single-story house less than a mile away where we can live for the rest of our lives. If we did not do it ourselves now, it may be someone else making those decisions for us later.' Can Your Current Nest Egg Cover Your Future Expenses? Sit down with a financial planner to discuss whether your retirement savings can cover your costs in the years to come. You may not have a choice in selling and relocating. 'If you live in an area with high home prices, selling your home and moving somewhere less expensive can boost your retirement savings,' noted financial expert Melanie Musson with 'It can instantly lift your investment portfolio, and potentially generate enough income for you to retire in a lower-cost area.' More From GOBankingRates 3 Luxury SUVs That Will Have Massive Price Drops in Summer 2025 5 Cities You Need To Consider If You're Retiring in 2025 6 Big Shakeups Coming to Social Security in 2025 This article originally appeared on Home Paid Off and Ready To Retire — 4 Questions From Experts To Decide if You Should Stay or Sell
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Waterford resident helping Ukrainian women cope with war
A Waterford woman on the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women has been working to help improve the mental health of Ukrainians affected by the three-year-long war that started with Russia's invasion of the country in 2022. Nancy Butler, a longtime local financial adviser, author and motivational speaker, said she got the idea to bring together women's groups from throughout Ukraine to discuss mental health issues when she heard during a commission meeting about the extraordinary toll the war was taking on the country's female population. She said the idea was immediately embraced by Ukrainian women's groups, and just last month dozens of them gathered on Zoom to talk about programs that have helped women who feel isolated, threatened and under a tremendous amount of pressure as much of the male population has been forced to fight a war to save their democracy. The biggest problem of mental health of women in Ukraine, in my opinion, is burnout," said Natalia Gnatyuk, who heads the Sustainable Development Fund for the Ukrainian Sustainable Development Academy, U-SDA, in a western region of the country called Khmelnytskyi, in an email response to questions. "Three years of full-scale Russian invasion devastated Ukrainian settlements, especially small towns and villages. The entire burden of supporting the front, supporting the family, the elderly and people with disabilities fell on women." In an earlier Zoom interview Feb. 25 from her home in Ukraine, Gnatyuk said the sessions Butler helped set up Jan. 6 were very powerful, and she has been busy forming new partnerships as a result, especially around sustainable development and recovery. "It was our first time when we have such international cooperation," she said via Zoom. "It's nice to create new partnerships." Gnatyuk equated the mental health service delivery system in Ukraine today with the idea that "whoever took the first coat is the doctor." But she said the recent Zoom conference, which brought together many different regions of Ukraine, pointed to the need to form a new social ecosystem based on partnerships within certain geographic areas, rather than the traditional institutional approach that tends to erect walls based on different mental health categories. "In Ukraine today there are many organizations that provide assistance by dividing people into categories and this, in my opinion, is the wrong path, since by communicating with people with similar traumas, we have no chance to get out of this circle of problems," Gnatyuk said. "In this case, multifunctional teams are more flexible and sustainable. They help a person gradually find their unique place, restore, helping others." Gnatyuk said women's mental health issues in wartime can be affected by the loss of loved ones, of course, but there are also myriad other issues, including everyday problems with apartment repairs, medical care, and the stigma of mental disorders. Some women fear giving birth to children in the middle of a war, and for female students the isolation of distance learning and lack of socialization can negatively affect mental health. "Emotional stress plus physical exhaustion lead to disruptions in the nervous system," Gnatyuk said. To combat this, she added, "The most effective are emotional reset programs, collective cultural and educational activities. Constructive and productive communication in support groups. Formation of local multifunctional teams capable of organizing social support for ALL who need it." Women's groups in Ukraine, she added, are currently trying to collect success stories to focus on how people can change their lives in a positive direction. One methodology, she said, focuses on helping women transition from the "survival" paradigm to a "creation" paradigm as a way to take control of their lives. Gnatyuk said her country is aware of the current political situation that indicates the United States is withdrawing support for her country, but believes it was predictable even if it's a wrong turn for both Ukraine and the United States. "We in Ukraine are now forming an image of the future world order," she said. "We are convinced that within the American people there are many capable cells that will not wait for political decisions, but will make their own correct decisions in the direction of partnership and interaction at the basic level." She said ordinary Americans are now helping the most to bolster Ukraine's spirit. Nancy Butler, who has been a leader among women locally with such groups as Safe Futures and the Women's Network of Eastern Connecticut, said she was glad to be able to put a spotlight on the women of Ukraine as the war drags on. "Right now, when heads of state cannot agree and provide peace and security to humanity, the role of personal connections becomes especially relevant," Gnatyuk said. "The formation of communication at the level of 'person-person,' 'group-group,' the implementation of micro-projects, daily activities, even if small, are the key to our common stability. And the more of them there are, the better.
