What if you could live in a retirement community that offers services, amenities, and an atmosphere on par with the world’s finest hotels? For many affluent older adults, that vision of luxury senior living is becoming a reality. There is rightly substantial attention on making senior living more affordable for average, middle-income retirees. At the … Read more

Today is Giving Tuesday, a global day of generosity observed the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Many older adults use the holiday season to give cash or valuable assets to family members or charities. While those gifts are usually appreciated, it’s important to be cautious about large transfers—especially if you might need Medicaid or live in a … Read more

With COVID-19 cases down in many parts of the country, school breaks, and a host of religious holidays this month, many people will be visiting older relatives for the first time in a long while. Those visits are an excellent opportunity to reconnect and also to assess an older loved one’s health and safety. Ideally, … Read more

If you’ve started researching senior living options—such as a continuing care retirement community (CCRC, also called a life plan community) or other retirement communities—you’ve likely encountered questions about minimum age requirements. Many people find this confusing, especially when household situations are nonstandard (for example, a spouse younger than the community’s minimum age or a senior … Read more

With the recent growth of rental retirement communities—often called independent living or “independent plus”—I frequently hear people say they prefer communities with no upfront buy-in. When comparing rental communities to entry-fee life plan communities (also known as continuing care retirement communities or CCRCs), many factors matter. This article focuses specifically on the financial side of … Read more

You’ve decided to move to a continuing care retirement community (CCRC), also known as a life plan community. You’ve reviewed your budget and can afford the monthly service fee, which the 2019 NIC Guide (sixth edition) reported as averaging $3,353, though actual fees vary widely by services, amenities, residence size, and location. Beyond the monthly … Read more

What’s your passion? Whether you love art, practice yoga, ride horses, follow music, or pursue any particular hobby or identity, there’s a growing chance a retirement community exists that’s built around those interests. Often called niche or affinity retirement communities, many new senior living developments are designed to bring together people who share a lifestyle, … Read more

Recently I spoke with a couple living in a continuing care retirement community (CCRC), also called a life plan community, in Virginia. Let’s call them Joe and Becky. They’ve been at the community for about three years and say they couldn’t be happier. One thing that stood out to them was the consistently high level … Read more

Recently I spoke with two residents of Henry Ford Village (HFV) in Dearborn, Michigan—let’s call them Dan and Mary. They aren’t a couple, but over time they’ve become good friends living in this continuing care retirement community (CCRC), also known as a life plan community. I asked both the two questions I often pose to … Read more

In this blog series, we examine the differences between activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), and what happens when they become difficult for a person. Inpart one of our blog series “ADLs vs. IADLs,” we explained what activities of daily living (ADLs) are — the basic self-care tasks such … Read more