When deciding where to spend your retirement, there is a lot to think through. You can stay in your current home. If you decide to move, you have a variety of options. Do you pick a 55+ community? Do you wait until your health needs change and move to an assisted living community? Or do you choose a Life Care Community? And how do you make this daunting decision? In this blog, we’ll take a closer look at each of these options and compare the benefits.
Staying in Your Home
There’s a certain amount of appeal to remaining in your house. Even if the mortgage has been paid, it does not mean there are no associated costs to staying where you are financially, mentally and physically. Maintaining a home takes work, and it only increases the longer you stay. There are gutters to clean, the driveway to shovel, the leaves to rake, and the baseboards to scrub. And there are the unexpected repairs like leaky basements and roofs. Although you can hire someone to do many of these things as your ability or desire to do them decreases, it takes a lot of effort and out-of-pocket costs to find someone you trust to do this work. In addition to the maintenance, you also may notice that the friends who live on your street start to move away to be closer to their children or retirement communities – opening you up to a possible lack of social contact and isolation. If your spouse needed care and had to move out, you may also miss out on spending the rest of your lives close together as you imagined.
Moving to a 55+ Community
Although a traditional 55+ community will remove a lot of the burdens that come with staying in your house, it is not set up to provide higher levels of care. At most communities, your landscaping, housekeeping and maintenance will be taken care of, and you will be in a community filled with new neighbors in a similar stage of life. You’ll likely be able to take advantage of social activities or community amenities, like a fitness center, helping you to build a new social network. However, the large disadvantage is that, if your healthcare needs change, you will need to move to a community that can deliver the appropriate care.
Moving to an Assisted Living Community
Although an assisted living community may meet your healthcare needs, this option isn’t truly a choice for many people. People typically move directly from their home to an assisted living community because an unanticipated health event forces them to seek care immediately. Making this type of move is reactionary and must be made in a crisis, when necessity and availability (more than choice) rule the decision. In addition, you may not be the one who makes the choice – it could be your loved ones instead, who may not know your preferences or be able to honor them because your current health situation takes priority.
Moving to a Life Care Community
Life Care Communities take the best of each of the options above and put them on one campus. At a Life Care Community, you can choose a private, independent residence. Your housekeeping, home maintenance and landscaping are included. You don’t have to spend time shoveling or raking. You can use your newly found free time to get involved on campus with one of the many social activities, events or trips. You can re-engage in activities you once loved but had lost time to pursue. What distinguishes a Life Care Community from a 55+ community, however, is that communities like Woodlands Retirement Community offer a full continuum of care, in addition to the maintenance-free and social lifestyle. And, by moving to a Life Care Community instead of a higher level of care, the choice remains with you. By choosing a Life Care Community, you’re deciding not only where you want to live independently, but also where you want to receive healthcare services should your needs ever change. And, if your spouse needs healthcare services, you will be close and can visit as often as you like.
Woodlands Retirement Community is a Life Care Community where you can move in starting at age 55. For more information on the services, amenities and lifestyle offered at Woodlands Retirement Community, call us today at 304-697-1620, or click here for your free info kit!