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Media Room
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Welcome to the Moving Solutions® Media Room
This section of our website provides members of the media with facts, figures and other helpful information about Moving Solutions. In this section you can view:
If you would like further information about Moving Solutions, please contact Tom Martini or Margaux McDaniel at the Moving Solutions Headquarters:
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Tom Martini
CEO
732-747-1118
732-747-8882 (fax)
E-mail Tom |
Margaux McDaniel
Director of Franchise Development
732-747-1118
732-747-8882 (fax)
E-mail Margaux |
Corporate Profile and History
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Moving Solutions® was started in 1996 to provide customized relocation services for older adults and their families. Margit Novack, President and Founder of Moving Solutions, recognized that most senior services focused on:
- Helping people remain safely in their homes
- Assisting them in selection of a new residence
- Supporting caregivers
Few services were available to help seniors who chose to move or for whom remaining at home was not an option. Moving Solutions was created to fill this gap in services to seniors. Services include assistance with sorting, planning and preparing for the move, developing floor plans for the new location, scheduling elevators, arranging storage, hiring movers, packing and unpacking, resettling in the new home and arranging for the sale or donation of unneeded items.
In 1999, the American Society on Aging recognized the growing need for this concept by naming Moving Solutions Business of the Year in the small business category. Since that time, Moving Solutions has played a leadership role in the aging community and in Senior Move Management. Margit Novack is a Founding Member and first President of the National Association of Senior Move Managers (NASMM).
Contacted by hundreds of would-be entrepreneurs interested in starting their own business, Moving Solutions initiated a licensing program in 2000 and helped establish 19 Senior Move Management firms in 14 states.
In 2004, Moving Solutions initiated a strategic planning process to determine the company’s future. Combining knowledge of the Senior Move Management industry with expertise in the fields of aging and marketing, Moving Solutions concluded that the stand-alone business model that had enabled companies to succeed in the industry’s first decade would not thrive in the highly competitive market of the future. Having proven that the licensing concept and training program were a success, in 2005 Moving Solutions began franchising and development of the Moving Solutions brand.
The heart of the success of the Moving Solutions Franchise is its training program. The customized curriculum for business owners includes learning modules on aging, business operations and move management.
As a ‘silver industry’ that markets and sells services to older adults, Moving Solutions is ideally positioned to meet the challenge of changing demographics. The Moving Solutions Franchise responds to four significant Boomer trends:
- Boomers wanting to continue working
- Growth in the number of Boomer entrepreneurs
- Boomers’ interest in the franchise business model
- Boomers’ desire for meaningful work
This marriage of demographics and Boomer characteristics provides the Moving Solutions Franchise with a bright future.
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Facts About Older Americans, Caregiving, and Relocation Stress Syndrome
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Figures are from the U.S. Census Bureau unless otherwise noted. For more facts about older Americans, visit the U.S. Administration on Aging at www.aoa.gov.
Attitudes
- Nearly half of people age 65 and older consider themselves to be middle aged or young. …….Only 15 % of people 75 + consider themselves "very old." American Perceptions on Aging in the 21st Century, The National Council on the Aging (NCOA), 2002.
Caregiving
- Nearly 25% of households (23 million) are involved in caregiving to someone 50 or older (AARP).
- 73% of caregivers are female and 25% of all caregivers are daughters. National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC)
- More than 7 million Americans manage care for a relative who lives at least one hour away. (NCOA)
- During the next 15 years, the number of long-distance caregivers will more than double. Many caregivers work either full or part-time while providing care. (NCOA)
Demographics
- In 2004, there were 36.3 million people 65 and over in the United States, accounting for 12 percent of the total population. By 2030, this number will increase to 20% of the population or about 71.5 million. American Society on Aging (ASA)
- The very old --- those aged 85 and older--- is the fastest growing segment of the 65+ population. In 2000, 2% of the population (4 million adults) were 85 and over. In 2004, there were 4.9 million people 85 and an increase of almost 25% in 4 years. By 2050, 19 million adults (5% of Americans) will be 85 and over.
- The number of Centenarians --- those over 100 --- is growing even faster than those over 85. In 2004 there were over 64,000 people 100 and over. By 2050 this number will grow to 2.5 million.
- Children born in 2000 have a life expectancy of 77 years. Children born in 2050 will have a life expectancy of 80. People reaching the age of 65 in 2000 can expect to live another 18 years. National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Economics and Employment
- Americans older than 50 control more than 77% of the country’s financial assets.
- Baby Boomers have $2 trillion to spend. "They will have immense spending power with the potential to change how America does business, since the goods and services sought by these older people will be in much higher demand." Sandra Timmermann, Ed.D., director of the MetLife Mature Market
- The median net worth in 2000 of households with householders 65 and over was $108,885. In contrast, householders under the age of 35 had a median household net worth of $7,240.
- 25% of employed caregivers (1.25 million people) lose at least one day per month to caregiving. Annually, this is about 15 million days. (NCOA )
Geographic Distribution
- California had the highest number of people 65 and older (3.8 million) in 2004, followed by Florida (2.9 million), New York (2.5 million), Texas (2.2 million), Pennsylvania (1.9 million), Ohio (1.5 million) and Illinois (1.5 million). Florida had the highest proportion, 16.8 percent of its total population, in the 65 and older age group, followed by West Virginia and Pennsylvania (15.3 percent each) and North Dakota and Iowa (14.7 percent each).
Moving Patterns
- Sixty per cent of older movers remain in the same county. Twenty per cent move to other counties in the same state and 20 per cent move to another state.
- People aged 85 and over move more frequently than the 65+ population as a whole.
Housing and Living Arrangements
- In 2000, 4.5% of older adults lived in nursing homes. The percentage rises steeply with age (1.1 percent for persons 65-74, 4.7 percent for persons 75-84 and 18.2 percent for persons 85 and older).
- “Each time an older person finds it is no longer reasonable to live in his or her home or community, it is a crisis on an individual and family level.” John Rother, AARP’s Director of Policy and Strategy.
Facts About Relocation Stress Syndrome (RSS)
- Relocation stress is defined as a state in which an individual experiences physiological and/or psychological disturbances as a result of transfer from one environment to another.
- Major characteristics of relocation stress syndrome include loneliness, depression, anger, apprehension and anxiety. Minor characteristics include changes in sleeping and eating habits, insecurity, lack of trust and need for excessive reassurance. The presence of five characteristics defining the nursing diagnosis of RSS are dependency, confusion, anxiety, depression, and withdrawal.
- Factors that increase relocation stress include: degree of change experienced and perceived lack of predictability or control over one’s environment.
- Residents who received considerable preparation in advance of the move using a specialized transfer team and maintaining the same staff before and after the move showed little or no post move increase in mortality. Important features included: sense of personal control over the environment, adequate time to prepare for the move, minimizing differences between the old and new environment, and development of a specialized transfer team to prepare residents physically and mentally so change is minimized.
- Residents who had an easy adjustment to the new environment fared better than residents who had a difficult transition.
Melrose, S. (2004). “Reducing relocation stress syndrome in long term care facilities.” Journal of Practical Nursing 54(4), 15-17.
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Story Ideas
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Moving Solutions® is frequently contacted as a source of information on eldercare and Boomer topics. In addition to our own areas of expertise, our involvement in professional organizations has provided access to experts in a variety of business, aging and caregiving resources. Listed below are examples of story ideas we can help you develop. For more information, please contact Alison Doyle at adoyle@movingsolutions.com or call 732-747-1118.
Following in Their Children's Footsteps
Many elderly parents are picking up roots and moving cross country to be near their adult children. Often, this is a reverse move—snowbirds returning to northern cities where family members reside.
Dispersal of Family Possessions
Family squabbles over belongings are nothing new, but the questions are becoming more complex as family structures change. If you remarry in later life, should grandmother’s crystal go to your new spouse or to your adult daughter? According to Margit Novack, Moving Solutions President, family members may be more interested in the growth chart by the basement stairwell than the sterling silver. This is a topic that spans generations and also reflects the changing face of the American family.
Hoarding in the Elderly
Hoarding is the acquisition and the failure to discard a large number of possessions that appear to be useless or of limited value. Although there are millions of hoarders, fewer that 5% ever come to public attention. Hoarding is a quiet syndrome. Since hoarding takes years to really flourish, many hoarders are elderly. Moving Solutions has worked with a number of elderly hoarders. In addition to our own expertise, we have access to experts throughout the country that can help you develop this story.
Women-Owned Businesses
According to the Women’s Financial Network, women-owned businesses account for 28% of business in the U.S. and represent 775,000 new startups per year. This accounts for 55% of new startups. Between 1997 and 2002, it is estimated that the number of women-owned firms increased 14% nationwide---twice the rate for all firms. The Senior Move Management industry, in which the vast majority of business owners are women, illustrate this trend. An informative article could focus of the many resources that are available to help women-business owners.
The Graying of Entrepreneurship
Conventional wisdom used to say that entrepreneurs were mostly young. No longer. According to the AARP, one of the biggest trends in business is the increase in boomers interested in becoming entrepreneurs. Many of these businesses are started by boomers with long track records in the corporate world who crave independence and an outlet for lifelong passions. Franchising is particularly attractive to boomers, who want to minimize risk with proven systems and the ready exit strategy that franchising provides. Moving Solutions illustrates all of these trends: boomers wanting to continue working, growth in boomer entrepreneurs, boomer interest in the franchise model and boomer desire for meaningful work.
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