What’s a Senior Move Manager and How Do They Help?

By Jennifer Pickett | Dec 3rd, 2019

Encouraged by the rising tide of retiring baby boomers and the desire of many empty nesters to simplify their lives in smaller spaces, relocation consultants for the 55+ crowd have become part of an emerging field: Senior Move Management. Here are just a few facts:

• The U.S. population aged 65 and over will jump nearly 80 percent when the Baby Boom generation retires (from 2010 to 2030).
• By 2030, the elderly will account for one-fifth of the total U.S. population. 
• Did you also know that Americans age 85 and above comprise the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population?

What is a Senior Move Manager®?

Anyone who has ever moved knows how stressful it can be. It’s particularly challenging for older adults and their families when it’s time to pack up a home of 30, 40, or 50 years and start over somewhere else. Fortunately, local small businesses all over the country are helping with this transition. A Senior Move Manager® is a professional who specializes in assisting older adults and their families with the emotional and physical aspects of relocation and/or staying at home to safely “age in place.”

Recognizing and managing the stress of relocating older adults is the hallmark of the National Association of Senior Move Managers®. Our ability to successfully manage transition trauma while helping older adults and their families through the downsizing and relocation process makes the move from their home to their new residence stress-free! NASMM members can also help you downsize and remain in the home through our NASMM@Home program.

The National Association of Senior Move Managers (NASMM) is the leading membership organization for Senior Move Managers in the United States, Canada and abroad. NASMM is recognized for its innovative programs and expertise related to Senior Move Management, transition and relocation issues affecting older adults.

Why Hire a Senior Move Manager®?

Senior Move Management is the profession that assists older adults and their families with the emotional and physical aspects of relocation and/or “aging in place.” Senior Move Management professionals — Senior Move Managers® — have backgrounds in gerontology, social work, health care, nursing and psychology, others come to this industry from the corporate world of project management, technology, legal services, accounting or marketing. Senior Move Managers® require a profound commitment to connecting with older adults and a desire to perform meaningful work.

Senior Move Managers® have significant expertise in resources and approaches that save money, reduce stress and produce quality results. Services are client-centered and personalized to meet the client’s needs and preferences. Families, particularly, should never doubt the power of an outside expert!

Consumers and referral sources should be confident that NASMM members represent the most qualified and capable Senior Move Managers in this growing profession.

Consider:

• Senior Move Managers (SMMs) guide clients through a journey that’s often as much about sorting through a lifetime’s worth of memories as it is about possessions.
• SMMs facilitate the decision regarding what to take, what to leave and how to redirect it. They also set up and organize the new home.
• The growth in senior living communities and the scattering of adult children have created this niche service.
• Two-income households leave adult children little time to help aging parents pack and move.
• Other seniors, single or without children, don’t have much help of any kind and are too overwhelmed to tackle the problem alone. You are not alone! Call a Senior Move Manager.
• Even when family help is available, emotions can run high, making the process thorny and upsetting for everyone involved.
• Often a move is precipitated by an illness or death of a spouse or the onset of chronic illness or dementia.

How Senior Move Managers® Help

As the older adult sorts through generations of belongings, the Senior Move Manager helps he or she decide what constitutes “treasure” and what is truly “trash.” The Senior Move Manager arranges for consignment, donations, and gifts. SMMs will collaborate with movers and plan for storage (if necessary), set up the new household, and see that the old house is cleaned and ready. Some Senior Move Managers also have experience moving frail seniors into nursing homes. Others will actually accompany an older adult on long-distance transportation, such as plane or train travel, as part of the move process.

Although specific services vary, most Senior Move Managers can help with some or all of the following:

• Developing an overall move or “age in place” plan
• Organizing, sorting, and downsizing
• Customized floor plans
• Arranging for the profitable disposal of unwanted items through auction, estate sale, buy-out, consignment, donation, or a combination of the above
• Interviewing, scheduling and overseeing movers
• Arranging shipments and storage
• Professional packing
• Unpacking and setting up the new home
• Related services, such as cleaning, waste removal, shopping, senior escort, assisting with the selection of a realtor and helping prepare the home to be sold.

Some Senior Move Managers provide these services directly; others function in more of an oversight or management role. Senior Move Managers hold extensive, practical knowledge about the costs, quality, and availability of local community resources. Additionally, Senior Move Managers frequently assist individuals who choose to stay in their own homes, but simply require expert organizational skills and solid knowledge of “aging in place” concepts to help them achieve their goal of … not moving anywhere, but improving quality of life!

Clients will often ask Senior Move Managers to manage a move across the miles. In this event, the Senior Move Manager who is directing the project where the older adult currently is located will connect with another Senior Move Manager at the receiving end and partner with them.

For all of these reasons and many more, 75,000 families and older adults chose a Senior Move Manager last year. To find a NASMM member in your area, click here.