More Choices for Retirement Living

There’s more in store than golf and cream-chipped beef.

Photo by Getty Images on Unsplash

I have not been a big fan of retirement communities. All things being equal, my wife and I would prefer to spend our final years in the comfort of our own home, thank you. But all things are not always equal. There may come a day when living in our current home is no longer practical and we have to consider alternatives. If we’re lucky and smart, we’ll make that call while we still have more attractive options than a nursing home.

A few months ago we were invited by friends to visit them in their new retirement community. I was not expecting to be impressed, but I was. This particular community is quite large, with several residential buildings, a fitness center, six restaurants, cozy libraries in odd corners here and there, on-site medical care, a variety of planned activities, transportation to city venues, and classes. “It’s like a college campus,” I said. “That was the idea,” my host informed me. For the first time, I could see myself living in such a community and, possibly, enjoying it.

Nancy Collamer, a retirement coach and the author of Second Act Careers, recently wrote about a similar experience. She and her husband sold their home and, by a fluke, rented an apartment in a 55+ community. To their surprise, they liked it enough to purchase a permanent home there. “On balance, the benefits of a 55+ community outweighed the drawbacks,” she writes.

The retirement community we visited is a continuing care retirement community (CCRC). That means that as your needs change, you can move within the facility to get more appropriate care. Generally you would begin in an independent living home, then move to assisted living, nursing care, or memory care over time. The advantage is knowing that once you’re in, you can stay for the duration.

What Else Is New

If you have your doubts about living in a community with people who share your age and possibly nothing else in common, the good news is that there are other options. As we quirky, adventuresome, taste-making baby boomers enter the target age bracket for these investments, there likely will be more – including more niche communities appealing to different interests and personalities. A few of the most interesting:

• University-Based Retirement Centers.  Seven retirement centers (so far) are on or near university campuses, providing easy access to lifelong learning, a walkable environment, high quality entertainment, and intergenerational contact. However, there are still a few bugs in the system: at Arizona State University, residents of a 62+ dormitory filed suit against a music venue across the street because its outdoor concerts were keeping residents up at night.

• Intergenerational living. Some older adults prefer not to live only with “a bunch of old people.” Others resent communities that segregate them from the rest of the world. For them, there are communities that deliberately bring residents of different generations together. Some pair senior residences with an elementary school or daycare center, while others create senior apartments within a larger residential complex. According to Generations United, more than 200 intergenerational shared sites have been created nationwide, with more on the way. 

• Cohousing communities. These developments feature small individual residences clustered around common spaces for dining and meeting. Residents share daily tasks and provide companionship. In Colchester, England, for example, 23 families created an eco-village around an old mill, which serves as the meeting space. This week saw the launch of a new venture, NUUage Coliving, which is building shared affordable housing priced for adults with smaller-than-anticipated retirement nest eggs.

• Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). An ADU is an independent living unit on the same lot as a single-family home, and building one in your child’s backyard is one way to ensure face time with the grandchildren. One obstacle: zoning laws in many communities forbid ADUs.

• Home-Sharing. To stave off loneliness and/or save money, more older adults turn to home sharing. The typical arrangements are sharing the home you own with a companion, living as a companion in someone else’s home, or doing the Golden Girls thing with multiple roommates. Reputable services have sprung up in many locales to provide screening and facilitate good matches.

I still would rather live out my days in my current home. But I’m encouraged that the marketplace is beginning to respond to the preferences of our generation with more interesting choices, at different price levels. It’s good to have options.

What’s Your Joywork?

Have you found a project or a new venture in retirement that satisfies your needs? I’d love to hear more about it! Contact me at don@donakchin.com.