As you progress through retirement, the family house may start to feel more of a burden.
Your family may have flown the nest, leaving you rattling around a house that no longer feels like a home. Or your large house may have grown too expensive and troublesome to heat and maintain.
In either case, moving to a retirement community may be one option you’ve been toying with.
While US studies have found that many (80–90%) of seniors want to stay in their existing home as long as possible, research in the UK suggests that those living in retirement communities tend to be significantly happier and healthier.
If the idea of spending your retirement in a community of people of a similar age to you, with top-end facilities that you’d normally find in a hotel or spa resort, a retirement village may be the ideal solution.
With a variety of bungalows and apartments on offer, these communities support your independent lifestyle while providing a degree of onsite care, should you need it.
Such places often boast amenities such as:
• Heated swimming pools
• Spa pools
• Indoor gyms
• Group fitness classes
• Restaurants
• Library and social lounges
• Landscaped gardens
• 24-hour staffing and onsite care services
• Transportation.
If this all fits the bill for the kind of lifestyle you’d like to enjoy in retirement, here are a few benefits and drawbacks to bear in mind.
Let’s start with the positives...
Benefits of living in a retirement community
Have a range of amenities right on your doorstep
As noted above, the list of facilities and services available could be a big draw.
Pick well and you could enjoy a true sense of luxury in your later years. From heated pools and landscaped gardens and well-stocked libraries, restaurants, cafes, and bars, you could have all this and more within a very short distance of your front door.
Enjoy an active social life
The social aspect of life in a retirement village is really important. Indeed, if you’re not a social creature, you may shy away from the idea of this kind of community.
Alongside top-notch facilities, there are tons of opportunities to meet up with your neighbours and make friends with other people in the community. With a variety of classes and outings, it should be relatively easy to meet like-minded people.
Invite family and friends for an overnight stay
Most retirement villages have a handful of guest suites so you can invite family and friends to visit, even though you live in smaller property.
Depending on the circumstances, there may be a nominal overnight fee.
While this isn’t quite the same as hosting in your own home, you do have the benefit of having someone else to take care of the catering during their stay – and there’ll be no extra laundry to worry about once they leave either.
Let someone else take care of the maintenance and upkeep
Another significant advantage of moving to a retirement community is that all the maintenance will be looked after by the professionals.
No need to worry if something breaks down, the lawn needs cutting, or the hedges need a trim. Your days are your own and someone else will be on hand to take care of such tiresome chores.
Boost your life expectancy
Living a wholesome lifestyle in potentially luxurious surroundings with people of a similar age and social outlook could improve your longevity.
Indeed, according to research, female residents who had lived at Whiteley Village (a retirement community that’s been around for 100 years) enjoyed a boost to their longevity when compared to the wider population. At one point in time, there was a boost of an extra five years.
Drawbacks of living in a retirement community
You may find it difficult to adapt to new environment
Moving to a new place can be hard at any time of life, and downsizing comes with its own set of challenges.
A whole new environment with different places and facilities to get to know may take some time to adjust to.
While it might be tempting to throw yourself into your brand new home and lifestyle, remember to be a little bit kind and patient with yourself, as it may be a while before you feel truly “at home”.
High costs and fees
When you move into a new retirement community, you’ll have to sign a contract. These can be fairly extensive, and you may need help to understand all the points covered.
For example, some communities require ongoing maintenance and service fees to be paid to the operator. Alternatively, sometimes you may be a leaseholder, meaning you pay a lump sum for your lease and ongoing fees.
If you move to a particularly high-end community with lots of expensive facilities, you may end up paying for services you neither want nor need.
Exit fees can cause an uncomfortable sting in the tail
Exit fees will usually be charged when you sell your retirement community property, typically when you move into full-time care elsewhere or pass away.
Such fees, and other similar “event fees” have been investigated and highlighted as having major problems. They are often hidden in complex leases, or sometimes only disclosed very late in the buying process.
As such, it’s important that you know what you’re signing up to and understand the financial ramifications of this type of exit fee.
Get in touch
If you’d like to discuss the practicalities of selling your home and moving to a retirement community, please get in touch. We’ll chat about all the pros and cons based on your situation and help you understand how such a move might affect your financial plan.
Email enquiries@alexanderpeter.com or give us a call on +44 1689 493455.
Please note
This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at retail clients only.
