Author Topic: Anyone considering retirement communities in later life?  (Read 15509 times)

begood

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Re: Anyone considering retirement communities in later life?
« Reply #50 on: September 02, 2014, 09:11:48 AM »
My mother is, though unenthusiastically.  She wants to remain independent but anticipates (rightly, I suspect) the possibility of being unable to "do" for herself as she ages, and/or facing health crises requiring help.  She's still less enthusiastic about the possibility of relying on me as serious assistance, something that reflects not my unwillingness or incompetence but her values.  But she doesn't want to move into a community comprised exclusively of old folks nor one as economically and racially undiverse (i.e., affluent, white) as the places around here are (though we do have some "good" options). 

I pretty much feel the same way as my mom, in anticipating my own life at her age. 

I'll note for those who want to move in only at "the last minute" that many such communities have health criteria and will not allow the already less abled (physically or cognitively or, for that matter, financially), so waiting too long will likely narrow the available choices.  This is an issue my mother is struggling with, as she doesn't want to find herself in a crisis and in need and therefore, suddenly ineligible.

Yes, I just looked up the entrance criteria for a community down in NC, and "complete self-care" was one of the requirements. Now, this is a continuing care community, so as people become less able to handle daily tasks, they can move into assisted living from independent living (and pay the difference in fees), but to get in the door, you had to be able to be able to do all tasks associated with daily living.

2ndTimer

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Re: Anyone considering retirement communities in later life?
« Reply #51 on: September 27, 2014, 11:28:32 AM »
I live in a low end version of this.  It's an over 55 trailer park in Seattle area.  I had the good (?) fortune to experience what it was like to be old due to a major health issue and it had a great influence on our decision of where to move when the Hub changed jobs (We FIRED once but when I was ill, he took over the finances and felt more able to care for me by going back to work, that kind of love is why every INTJ needs their own personal INFP).

Now that I am better and running the financial show again we still like it a lot.  We actually have the nicest place we have ever had having lived our pre-FIRE time like grad students and our FIRE time in Mexico.  It's a doublewide from the late 80's that the previous owner gussied up to the max.  I have three raised garden beds in the back and a strawberry patch in front.  I can walk to two grocery stores and ride my bike to three more.  City buses stop at the entrance.  It is dead silent at night.  Somebody else maintains the pool and hot tub.  Like a dorm you are issued friends and I like my neighbors.  The only reason I still have a car is that the Hub was afraid that I would forget how to drive entirely.  I do try to drive it at least once every other week because back when we were living like grad students we left our car undriven so long that the gas evaporated down to goo and it cost a bit to get it fixed.  We have two inside cats who are in charge of everything

The only thing I don't like is that we are not allowed to have big LP gas tanks here and we always loved a gas fireplace.   However, we bought a pellet stove which provides the same kind of cosiness with a little more work. In conclusion, it was a good choice for us and we plan to stay here until we die

Rube

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Re: Anyone considering retirement communities in later life?
« Reply #52 on: September 27, 2014, 09:45:10 PM »
Yes! My inlaws managed one for about 4 years. I thought it was awesome to have a warm garage to change oil in the winter but I learned a lot from those folks. Most lived well into their 90s. The whole bit about a shot of whiskey and a square of chocolate every day - there might be something to that.

pdxbator

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Re: Anyone considering retirement communities in later life?
« Reply #53 on: September 29, 2014, 03:48:55 PM »
This is an interesting topic that I have been thinking of a lot.

Both my parents are fine financially. My dad is 73 and mom is 70. However, they have made NO plans for this at all. They live in the house I grew up in and could not physically separate themselves from it. My mom hoards clothes and dad has his garages (yes plural) full of stuff. Me and my siblings live 1000 miles away and they don't think of this as a problem. My mom is not great health-wise (bad neuropathy so falls easily). I would love to see them in this type of living as it would keep them more active with peers and not so sequestered.

Then there's my SO's mom. She's 74 and would love this kind of living. The only thing is she could never afford it. She never saved for retirement, had menial jobs, was a single parent, and now lives in a condo that I own but pays me rent that just covers taxes and HOA. It sounds like there might be some options for indigent people, but she's not yet in need of a nursing home.

This is where I would love to compare the US versus some other industrialized country like Germany or the UK. We pretty much just turn our seniors out and see if they can survive on SS alone. Her SS barely covers rent and medicines.

Snow White

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Re: Anyone considering retirement communities in later life?
« Reply #54 on: September 29, 2014, 04:55:13 PM »
Short answer...absolutely.  Hubby and I may eventually move to one and if something happened to him, I'd move in even sooner because I don't like yard work and house maintenance,and would enjoy having the companionship.

Do your due diligence though on the prospective community as there are many models, levels of services and costs.  You can spend a ton of money if you aren't careful.  Know what your goals are too.  Do you want a continuing care community where you start off in an independant living house/apartment, progress to assisted living when you need it and have a guarantee of a skilled nursing facilty on site should you require it?  If so, make sure you are buying into a community that is likely to be around for that long.  Do they have adequate beds in their skilled nursing facilty to meet the residents needs? (Ask if they are currently full).  A very high end continuing care community in my area underestimated how many skilled nursing beds they'd need by a lot and they are currently sending residents to other nursing homes despite folks having paid for years into a plan that should have allowed them to stay on site.

Others may wanted an assisted living as the first step and no option on site for a nursing home (less expensive option).  There are many possibilities depending upon where you live and what your state licensing rules allow.


Spartana

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Re: Anyone considering retirement communities in later life?
« Reply #55 on: September 29, 2014, 04:59:46 PM »


 
Then there's my SO's mom. She's 74 and would love this kind of living. The only thing is she could never afford it. She never saved for retirement, had menial jobs, was a single parent, and now lives in a condo that I own but pays me rent that just covers taxes and HOA. It sounds like there might be some options for indigent people, but she's not yet in need of a nursing home.

This is where I would love to compare the US versus some other industrialized country like Germany or the UK. We pretty much just turn our seniors out and see if they can survive on SS alone. Her SS barely covers rent and medicines.
There are some seniors communities for rent that will allow low income seniors to base what they pay on their SS and subsidize the difference. My grandma lived in one of these (very nice one bedroom apt) and I think she only paid a couple of hundred a month. But they have longggggggg waiting lists.

The place my Mom lived, an "active 55 community" http://lwsb.com/lwsbmaster/ was inexpensive to buy into (was $27K) when she bought but now are more than $100K for a one bedroom. You had to pay cash for the place and have approx. $25K in reserve assets plus an income of approx. $1000/month. It was not a continued care type of community though - just a condo/co-op community for independent living people over 55.

2ndTimer

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Re: Anyone considering retirement communities in later life?
« Reply #56 on: September 29, 2014, 05:27:04 PM »
I should add that there is a fairly significant income requirement for our Sr. trailer park.  I suspect that in the past they have had people who wound up unable to afford it.

 

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