Retirement Homes

[sid]

My wife is 83 and I am 87 and we are both active and in fairly good health considering our age. However, we both realized that it was time to start looking at retirement homes in our area. We live in a middle class suburb of Philadelphia. So we made a list and visited the first one yesterday.

We had an intelligent and attractive young woman as a tour guide. She was informative and answered every question truthfully. This was a Life Care home which meant that they took care of you regardless of your needs until you passed away. When you became unable to care for yourself you were then transferred to a special unit that provided intensive nursing care.

The entire place was immaculate and the services were most impressive. They had just about everything that you could possibly want. There were 3 different restaurants, a woodworking shop that was the best I have ever seen, a beautiful pool, a hot tub, a large gymnasium with every kind of machine available, etc. The suites were arranged in order of size and other amenities. When you moved in the suite would it then be redecorated according to your own desires. You could even have the carpets taken up and replaced with wooden flooring. I could go on and on but it really looked like a senior citizen's idea of heaven.

We were told that the mean age of the occupants was 83. The ratio of women to men was 2 to 1. In the intensive care unit men lived an average of 2 years and for women it was 4 years.

Next came the sticker shock for which I was not prepared. The admission charge for a basic 2 bedroom apartment was $291,000! The monthly rent charge was $6000. When you went to the intensive care unit the price rose to a monthly $10,000. There were yearly increases in the price of everything and these averaged about 4%. In addition there were all sorts of other expensive charges for other things. And if you wanted a larger apartment the prices really skyrocketed.

I have no particular wisdom to offer at this time, but would be interested in reader comments.

[Ken The Kanuck]

We have the mother in-law in a nice full care facility up here. The cost is around $5,000.00 USD per month. We needed to pay for this ourselves for about 3 years as we did not want her in the place the government wanted to put her in, it took about 3 years on their waiting list until the government started picking up the majority of the tab (I think she pays around $600/month now).

HTH

KTK

[JB White]

What happens after they gobble up someone's life work and savings? Do they wheel them out to the street? I understand that care is expensive but...

Sounds like a nice place though. The place I worked at (construction) I opted not to stay on that project very long. Nice looking but shoddy workmanship. We were even told not to cope the trim, but butt join it and let the painters caulk it in. Same with the doors. Didn't have to be plumb and squared so long as the door would swing. Again, the casings were to be heavily caulked. (Caulk = Experience in a tube)
These were the requirements of the developer. Not the contractor. I left when I overheard them saying something to the tune of, "Cheap and fast as possible. Stay within budget. It's not as though the half blind residents will be looking at it for very long".

Shop hard Sid. Look closely. Ask about what happens if you live to 100 and your money runs out. Check about the medical staff and their certifications. Make sure they aren't overloaded with ex-addicts wearing scrubs answering to just one or two true professionals.

[barretcreek]

My mother is in a private unlicensed assisted living home. Her tax guy will not write it off. She has a federal survivor benefit and when the equity in her house is exhausted she's going into a facility which accepts Medicare. She is 101 and will outlive everyone on this forum.

[snakehunter]

My wife is 83 and I am 87 and we are both active and in fairly good health considering our age. However, we both realized that it was time to start looking at retirement homes in our area. We live in a middle class suburb of Philadelphia. So we made a list and visited the first one yesterday.

We had an intelligent and attractive young woman as a tour guide. She was informative and answered every question truthfully. This was a Life Care home which meant that they took care of you regardless of your needs until you passed away. When you became unable to care for yourself you were then transferred to a special unit that provided intensive nursing care.

The entire place was immaculate and the services were most impressive. They had just about everything that you could possibly want. There were 3 different restaurants, a woodworking shop that was the best I have ever seen, a beautiful pool, a hot tub, a large gymnasium with every kind of machine available, etc. The suites were arranged in order of size and other amenities. When you moved in the suite would it then be redecorated according to your own desires. You could even have the carpets taken up and replaced with wooden flooring. I could go on and on but it really looked like a senior citizen's idea of heaven.

We were told that the mean age of the occupants was 83. The ratio of women to men was 2 to 1. In the intensive care unit men lived an average of 2 years and for women it was 4 years.

Next came the sticker shock for which I was not prepared. The admission charge for a basic 2 bedroom apartment was $291,000! The monthly rent charge was $6000. When you went to the intensive care unit the price rose to a monthly $10,000. There were yearly increases in the price of everything and these averaged about 4%. In addition there were all sorts of other expensive charges for other things. And if you wanted a larger apartment the prices really skyrocketed.

I have no particular wisdom to offer at this time, but would be interested in reader comments.

In my area the same deal runs around 250 k entry and 3k rent but some of the amenities are not provided.

[Sunray]

"...everything that you could possibly want..." Includes 3 meals per day, daily laundry and on site medical care. That's why it's 6 grand a month.
What's your house worth? Most of it will be eaten up.

[sid]

Some more things about this place. They do a health and financial assessment before you come in. On the financial side they just accept your statements without checking them. If you do run out of money because of one reason or another, they do not kick you out. They keep you their with full services till you expire.

More. There is a full service community hospital on the same campus. They do not have any affiliation with the retirement home. However, it does make it possible to get immediate, first rate medical attention in case of an emergency. Also on the same campus is a brand new full service treatment center of the Rothman Institute. This is famous and provides world class orthopedic services. My wife and I both have been treated at another of the Rothman centers and the care was superior.

[gwp]

My father went to assisted living after my mother died in 2002. He paid $1700 a month for a new unfurnished efficiency with a bedroom, bath, living room and kitchenette. This included meals and free use of the common areas (pool, theater, shop, laundry and exercise room). They had modestly priced barber/beauty and snack shops on site and free popcorn and ice cream in the theater. They also have a bus that looks like a trolley, that they share with their other facilities, for outings, shopping trips and etc. Medical and service personnel were available throughout the week but an ambulance was called for all but basic medical service. His room was given a basic cleaning each week but he did most of the house keeping him self. The staff was very friendly and would check on my father if the dining room was ready to close and he had not eaten. Dad said the place was all right but they were skimpy with the meals. I talked with the staff and they said if he didn't have a large enough meal for him to ask the dining room staff for more. He talked to the staff every day and he said he realy liked the staff. Sadly was was there less than a year before he passed.

[Allen]

My father went to assisted living after my mother died in 2002. He paid $1700 a month for a new unfurnished efficiency with a bedroom, bath, living room and kitchenette. This included meals and free use of the common areas (pool, theater, shop, laundry and exercise room). They had modestly priced barber/beauty and snack shops on site and free popcorn and ice cream in the theater. They also have a bus that looks like a trolley, that they share with their other facilities, for outings, shopping trips and etc. Medical and service personnel were available throughout the week but an ambulance was called for all but basic medical service. His room was given a basic cleaning each week but he did most of the house keeping him self. The staff was very friendly and would check on my father if the dining room was ready to close and he had not eaten. Dad said the place was all right but they were skimpy with the meals. I talked with the staff and they said if he didn't have a large enough meal for him to ask the dining room staff for more. He talked to the staff every day and he said he realy liked the staff. Sadly was was there less than a year before he passed.

This is almost exactly what I was going to write. I had one aunt that went into an identical facility as above during the same time period. It was new, clean, very elaberate and friendly. As long as you were able to do most things for yourself you could stay in this type housing and you kept your car and drove as long as you felt comfortable with it. If you became bed ridden then you had to find a different place though. There was NO other charges---just the monthly fee as above. Present day you could figure on double that and be put on a waiting list.

I had another aunt who chose another type of assisted living. She had to sell her house and pay them $75,000 of so + a monthly fee. I think she could stay here till she died and not have to be transferred elsewhere for the extra services but after all she did basically buy the place up front.

I'm sure you and your wife hate the thought of giving up your home. You may be able to hire someone to come in to cook and clean for a few years. It's good to have someone check on you everyday. Having them do some of your chores would certainly be a plus.

Shop around for sure.

[dryheat]

This is Gold plated extended care. You can thank, well, I don't know exactly who, but it's pretty nice albiet expensive. I don't have that kind of money. Chances are I'll be walking out to the shop and fall over, flop around in the dirt a while and crook.
That's the good scenario. I hope to hell I don't end up attached to a tube for any period of time. My beautiful neighbors husband walked into the house, sat down in the Lazy-Boy and died. I'd pay good money for that.

[Allen]

flop around in the dirt a while and crook.

You would probably croak. Hillary would crook.

[dryheat]

umph, good one.

[Major Tom]

My Aunt in California recently moved into a very nice assisted living complex. They decorated her apartment the way she wanted and even expanded her living space. The only thing she doesn't like is the communal eating. This complex is in Alto Loma, CA. Monthly expense is $6000 p/mo. She still has her old house in Rancho Cucamonga too. She will be selling it soon.

[Clark Howard]

I have been looking, but I cannot find an assisted living home that will let me have my shotgun. They say no to the scattergun, but they go into seizures when I ask about my Colts. Maybe later. Regards, Clark

[Vern Humphrey]

My wife is 83 and I am 87 and we are both active and in fairly good health considering our age. However, we both realized that it was time to start looking at retirement homes in our area. We live in a middle class suburb of Philadelphia. So we made a list and visited the first one yesterday.

We had an intelligent and attractive young woman as a tour guide. She was informative and answered every question truthfully. This was a Life Care home which meant that they took care of you regardless of your needs until you passed away. When you became unable to care for yourself you were then transferred to a special unit that provided intensive nursing care.

The entire place was immaculate and the services were most impressive. They had just about everything that you could possibly want. There were 3 different restaurants, a woodworking shop that was the best I have ever seen, a beautiful pool, a hot tub, a large gymnasium with every kind of machine available, etc. The suites were arranged in order of size and other amenities. When you moved in the suite would it then be redecorated according to your own desires. You could even have the carpets taken up and replaced with wooden flooring. I could go on and on but it really looked like a senior citizen's idea of heaven.

We were told that the mean age of the occupants was 83. The ratio of women to men was 2 to 1. In the intensive care unit men lived an average of 2 years and for women it was 4 years.

Next came the sticker shock for which I was not prepared. The admission charge for a basic 2 bedroom apartment was $291,000! The monthly rent charge was $6000. When you went to the intensive care unit the price rose to a monthly $10,000. There were yearly increases in the price of everything and these averaged about 4%. In addition there were all sorts of other expensive charges for other things. And if you wanted a larger apartment the prices really skyrocketed.

I have no particular wisdom to offer at this time, but would be interested in reader comments.

They are trying to suck you dry -- get every penny you have saved before you die.

Figure out what it would cost to have a live-in home health care person, and compare it to what they charge.