Homing In, How to Choose a Retirement Community
So you’ve made the decision, a retirement community is right for you. Now what? The good news is that there is enormous variety out there; the bad news is that the enormous variety makes it daunting to vet and choose.
Let your imagination roam freely
Retirement communities have come a long way since the last century. It’s important to allow yourself to identify what your ideal situation would be. Do you want to be surrounded by mentally astute, active people? What climate best suits you as you age? Will you be in a city, or a smaller community near a large city, or in the countryside near a city? Is it important to you that your appetite for culture is satisfied with plenty of outings to performances and museums, as well as visiting artists? Do you like to volunteer for local charity projects? Are you a foodie? Do you like the idea of learning how to build furniture, or becoming an expert on Roman history? In the new world of retirement communities, all these things are possible—and more. You have the opportunity to choose an adult community, not an old people’s place.
Many of the most popular retirement communities have long waiting lists, so it’s also important to think about your options well in advance of your likely needs. Some also require you to be at a particular level of health and mobility in order to enter. In fact, a real risk of a decline in these factors might limit the number of options open to you. The best retirement communities want you to join them while you’re healthy and can live independently, and be actively engaged in their community. Ideally, they’d like you to live independently until the end.
Click here to read about our general guide to the different types of retirement communities.
Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRC’s) have become particularly popular throughout the country, because these provide a continuum of care that adapts to the evolving needs of aging people. There are approximately 2,000 CCRCs in the US, and that number is expected to continue to increase as the population ages.
Newsweek has ranked them here.
Some of the best communities in the US are non-profits. Although most communities are for- profit, the non-profits tend to be the shining stars… and the toughest to get into. They attract better ratings, and they are also often smaller, so you’ll get more personal attention. Plus, the profits are invested back into the facility, not into corporate coffers. Many are mission-based, and some are religiously affiliated, but not religious in nature. For example, you can be accepted into a Jewish retirement community if you’re not Jewish.
How to start
The first thing is to ask yourself some of the hard questions about how you want to live the last chapters of your life, which we touched upon in [Blog One]. Perhaps the most important next question, as you begin to home in on specific communities that might fit the bill, is location. Do you want to be close to family and friends? Do you want to live in an urban area with the freedom of public transportation? Do you want to be somewhere calm and bucolic?
Another question: What level of intellectual engagement are you looking for, both inside and outside the community? Many communities sponsor lecture series, and bring cultural programs right to their residents; others facilitate accessing activities outside of the community. Understanding the engagement level of residents – and your potential neighbors – living within the community should be a key factor in your decision making.
Once you have decided on the type and location you are interested in, you can start to vet individual communities.
Be prepared: This will take time and effort. You don’t want to make a hasty decision, because it’s highly likely you’ll end up somewhere that doesn’t work for you.
Any good community will allow you to thoroughly vet them (and they’ll thoroughly vet you, too.) This should involve more than just a quick tour with a sales rep. Be prepared to visit multiple times to get a good feel for how it’s going to be to live there.
The better places offer lecture series or other events that you could attend with current residents to help with your evaluation process. This gives you the opportunity to talk with residents, see how they interact with each other and the staff, and to participate in something they do. Some communities even allow or encourage you to stay for a sleepover.
Spending the time to really dig into the experience is the only good way to evaluate whether the arrangements and activities are meaningful to you. And if not, feel free to move on. There are so many variables, and it’s really about your personal preferences. For example, some communities assign you a seat at mealtimes that changes occasionally; others work on a restaurant model, where you can reserve in advance, or show up to be seated with a more casual gathering of residents and visiting friends or relatives. It’s not just about the food.
And, of course, it’s ideal if you already know somebody in the community who can give you the honest inside scoop.
Points to bear in mind
- The range of care and assistance available, over time.
- The ability to cater to one partner having different health and care needs than the
other. - The overall mission of the community.
- The average age and mobility of other residents.
- The range of activities inside the community.
- The range of activities outside the community.
- The eating arrangements and quality of food.
- Are there any restrictions on guests? Are there arrangements for visitors to stay overnight?
At Bridgewater, we’re invested in maintaining your long-term quality of life, not just financially, but also physically and emotionally. Don’t hesitate to ask for our collaborative advice on how to best plan for all aspects of retirement.
Next up: How to establish what you can afford in retirement.