Since 60 is the new 40, we baby boomers are living longer, healthier lives and enjoying life after our kids grow up and start households of their own. Although we love our family homes, it may be time to downscale and start the phase of our lives when it's time to travel and explore new horizons.

Since its passage, Proposition 13 prohibits significant property tax increases until property ownership is changed. Two additional provisions, Prop 60 and Prop 90, were added to make it much easier - from a property tax perspective - to downsize.

Here's how it works: when either spouse is over age 55 when the current home is sold, Prop 60 allows replacement of a primary residence with a new residence of equal or lesser value within the same county and transfer of the Prop 13 assessed valuation from the current home to the new residence. This is allowed once in your lifetime; Prop 60 is then not available to your spouse.

In addition, Prop 90 allows counties to elect to accept transfers of Prop 13 values for moves from other counties when a primary residence is replaced with a less expensive residence. If you are over 55 and move into a county that accepts Prop 90, you may take your old, lower Prop 13 value, regardless of from which county you move. For example, using Prop 90, you can sell your $2,750,000 San Francisco home (Prop 13 assessed at your purchase price) and move to a new, lower valued, residence in a county that participates in Prop 90; your new home's assessed value will still be based on your former home's assessed value. The same will be true if you buy down and remain in San Francisco. Here's more information from the Californai Board of Equalization: State of California Contact us if we can provide more information about this valuable tax savings.