While all of the information here, and on other threads that cover Continuous Care facilities in interesting and a good basis for understanding how it works, there is nothing like seeing what it is like, and hearing from the administrator of a facility... and that means
going there. Face to face, you will learn about the details of cost and care... A few hours at most for a wealth of perspective.
You will not likely find --- online... information about costs. Most webpages require signing up for information. Even the few facilities that DO show information about costs, are often not fully forthcoming... ie. up front costs, entrance fees, moneys to be returned at death where upfront charges for membership/ownership have been assessed.
If you are sincerely interested in building your retirement plans to include care for the later years, I'd suggest that going to a facility... While that's going to be scary for people who don't have relatives who live in a facility,( ie. for people who have never been there except to look in at the reception area), it's a reality trip that will make a dent in those plans for world-wide travel, or tending your backyard garden, when you are 85. NOT that it's bad... it's just coming face to face with thinking about the later years. At 50, 60, or 70, most healthy people subconsciously avoid thinking about ever being physically or mentally impaired.
For married retired persons.. the chance of both dying by falling off an elephant while touring India at age 85... It ain't gonna happen. I mention that because there are ways to ease into the later years, without a soul shattering disruption. Let me explain, by talking about our own situation.
The house/apartment/assisted living/nursing home/Alzheimers unit combination that we live in...
In the Villas... 65 Regular homes
About 20 homes occupied by widows only, 35 homes occupied by couples, and the other 10 homes, by a husband or wife who has a spouse in one of the other facilities.
In the Apartments, a similar ratio.
So what's the big deal about this? It means that in the later retirement years, a married couple can stay together or close enough to avoid the agony of being far apart, and only being able to visit after an occasional trip from a one person home. If this thought doesn't stir emotions, it probably won't matter where you live or what you do.
The very best part of this kind of arrangement is that there is no shock to the social life of either spouse, as the years of living in the greater community allow both spouses to be with friends and neighbors.
Yesterday, we played bridge in the library of our CCRC... Two Widows from the Apartments, one lady from assisted living (husband lives inthe apartments), a man whose wife is in the nursing home (he lives in a villa), another widower (from the apartments), and a husband and wife who live in the villas
DW and me.
Some of the other regulars were elsewhere... 2 ladies at the gambling casino, one out shopping, and a husband and wife on a trip to Branson.
There is a reality out there for older persons, but it doesn't have to be unpleasant.
For us, the decision was made earlier... and we're very happy. For others, it may seem like hell.
A matter of playing the odds.