Retirement villages have long been popular in Australia, New Zealand and, to a lesser extent, Great Britain. The term “retirement village” is popping up more and more in the US so you may be interested in knowing the pros and cons of living in a retirement village.
A very broad term
Unfortunately, the terms retirement community and retirement village are very broad and don’t necessarily mean the same thing everywhere. These are generic terms that can cover many types of housing for retirees and seniors. They are both designed or geared for those of who no longer work. Some are age restricted and some are not. There are also retirement homes though this term has virtually disappeared due to its negative connotations – a building where old people are sent by relatives to sort of vegetate away.
The difference between a retirement village and a retirement home is that a village normally consists of a complex of houses, apartments, clubhouses, on-site medical facilities, swimming pools and usually even a golf course.
The basic concept of a retirement village is hat it’s a community where retired people come to live together. They feature independent living and people are encouraged to bring their own furniture, pictures and other familiar objects – so they will feel as much at home as possible.
To make matters even more confusing, retirement communities can offer independent living, assisted living, congregate living, continuing care, nursing care and even Alzheimer care.
The pros of living in a retirement village
For most people, the biggest advantage of living in a retirement village is that you can kiss maintenance goodbye. There’s no more house painting, no snow shoveling, no plumbing repairs, no yard work, no broken garage doors to repair, no electrical outages, no leaky basements. Instead, all maintenance is taken care of for you. In some villages, you can even forget about cooking and cleaning, as these are either included or can be purchased as optional expenses.
A second reason to choose a retirement village is that there will be plenty of activities right at your doorstep. Many retirement villages include salons, fitness facilities, a library, a pool, tennis courts and areas where you can just sit and relax. Most of them also offer a full schedule of fun events – talent shows, picnics, bar-b-ques, car shows, bowling nights, bridge tournaments, and more.
Third, it’s easy to make friends in a retirement village. Your neighbors are also new to the area and looking to make new friends. They will be about the same age as you and will probably have many of the same interests. Since you all will be about the same age, you will have a common bond of shared experiences – those TV shows you watched as kids, your favorite music and movies and, who knows, maybe you will discover you were all at Woodstock together.
Retirement villages generally provide transportation to nearby malls and shopping centers so you don’t even need to get in your car to go shopping, catch a movie, get a hair cut, buy gifts for your grandkids or do your grocery shopping.
The cons of living in a retirement village
The biggest “con” to a retirement village is the cost. Whether the developers of these villages want to admit it or not, they are costly and mostly for the affluent. In most cases there will be an initial entry cost that just allows you to settle into your new residence. Beyond this, there will be on-going charges and maybe even a “departure fee” you will have to pay if you move out or that your heirs will have to pay.
One of the biggest advantages of a retirement village is also one of its disadvantages – the sameness of the residents. People will be pretty much like you so there are few differences between you and your neighbors. You all will be about the same age, will have about the same income and the same likes and dislikes. There will be no kids to watch, no playgrounds, no vibrant younger people to spice up things.
There will also be restrictions you may not like. For example, if you buy a house in a retirement village, you may not be able to plant a garden in your backyard or put up a privacy fence. There may also be restrictions as to how you or your heirs can sell the house. Retirement villages generally do not offer assisted living. This means that if you or your partner becomes ill or incapacitated, you will have to move to a new facility. And even though you may not want to dwell on the subject, the odds are that you will eventually get sick and need assistance.
Retirement villages do not have hospitals. If you become injured or seriously ill, you will have to be taken to a hospital that may be miles away from your village and your friends.
Finally, the biggest and best known retirement villages in the US are the Villages in Florida. You may have seen TV ads for them. What these ads don’t tell you is that the ratio of men to women there is 10 to 1 women over men. So, if you’re a widow hoping to meet a man with whom you can spend your golden years, you might want to check this out before deciding to move into a retirement village.
Many adults have elderly parents who could benefit from living in a retirement home. However, it’s hard to decide to send an elderly parent to a retirement home because there are several other care options available. Furthermore, this decision can be made more challenging because most retirement homes have several pros and cons that should be fully considered beforehand.Thanks for sharing this information.