Planning for where you should live in your sunset years is one of the most important tasks of your life.
There’s no right or wrong answer as so much depends on personal circumstance and the support you enjoy from your family.
You can dive straight into a retirement village, choose to live in your existing family home or downsize to a condo, where the maintenance of the building and gardens are taken care of for you.
As your local real estate agent, I have seen many couples in their 60s and older grapple with this challenge. It can be emotionally confronting, and finding the best answer requires thorough research of all your options.
You should include your family in the conversation. Often, the children hold strong emotional ties to the family home and don’t always respond well when they discover it’s being sold if they’ve not been consulted.
As your agent, I can help you with some of the choices around downsizing; that is, helping prepare your own home for sale and guiding you on suitable smaller properties that you can enjoy in your retirement.
If you take this path, you need to consider a staged plan as there’ll come a day when you no longer wish to drive and the amenities and the health care you require will need to be much closer.
Below, I have listed the pluses and minuses of the three basic retirement choices that are available. Please contact me if you’d like to discuss your situation further.
Living in your own home
Benefits:
- You make your own rules, can keep to your favorite habits and live independently.
- You maintain financial independence.
- Any home care required can be organized with your provider.
- Healthcare expenses relate specifically to your situation rather than cover infrastructure that you will not need until you’re older.
- The surroundings are familiar, and you can keep your pets.
Challenges:
- Unless you’re in a strata unit, you’ll find maintenance becomes an increasingly greater physical burden.
- As you get older, your network of friends starts to dissipate, as they either move into retirement villages or pass on. This can lead to isolation and loneliness.
- Your independence may cost more when all costs and taxes are taken into consideration. In undertaking your research, the financial issue needs to be analyzed carefully. You may wish to seek professional advice.
- Seniors can tend to become isolated living alone if mobility or activity is limited.
- As you age, a home can become overwhelming to maintain, and costs may even become an issue.
- Safety issues such as stairs and getting out of the tub can prove a challenge in your later years.
Retirement village
Benefits
- There are a variety of housing styles in a retirement village, such as condos and serviced apartments to specialist care units. Do not see a retirement village as merely a single option.
- If you’ve never really loved gardening, then you’d be happy with this choice. Your living space will be smaller, so that will reduce cleaning, and you’re likely to spend more time in communal areas.
- An assumed benefit of downsizing is to have lower living costs. This isn’t always so. But in a retirement village, you should be confident that you can reduce your household budget.
- Additional services – such as meals and house cleaning – can be made available.
- There’s pretty much zero chance of suffering from social isolation and activities with neighbors are organized continuously.
Challenges
- You are buying the right to live in the village and be a consumer of its services so while your estate may receive a benefit upon you passing, your investment is unlikely to appreciate like you might expect from other property purchases.
- Of course, your fee to live in the village will not just cover the cost of your accommodation but all the facilities, security and staff required to run it. Again, you need to analyze this impost against your current day-to-day expenses carefully.
- Every retirement home will have its own rules, which effectively reduces your freedom to choose. Check these rules carefully before making any commitment.
- There’s no escaping the fact that you’ll see fewer younger people and be immersed in communities of people of similar age. You’ll miss much of the cultural diversity in our society.
Residential Care
This is a stage beyond a retirement village or when it is no longer possible to live at home. It should be considered in early retirement only where health concerns are apparent.
Benefits
- Medical professionals are on-site 24/7.
- Meals, activities and therapy is provided
- Residential care has the necessary medical facilities and equipment to support your everyday needs.
Challenges
- It’s expensive due to the focus on personal care.
- Your independence will be secondary to medical guidance on care, nutrition and activity.