Continuing Care Retirement Communities

[stevenr]

Does anybody on this site live in a Continuing Care Retirement Community? If so, what is your experience?

Recent events in my in-laws lives have me wanting to have my ducks very much in a row for independent/assisted living.

 

[MarieIG]

Hopefully some members will respond with their personal experiences.

In the meantime, please see the attached (internal) link re CCRC reference materials.

https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f47/ccrc-reference-material-faqs-86124.html

 

[audreyh1]

Here are some links to fairly recent threads

How to decide on a CCRC. https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f29/how-to-decide-on-a-ccrc-115753.html

Have you come across a great CCRC? https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f29/have-you-come-across-a-great-ccrc-112472.html

Rethinking CCRC living https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f29/rethinking-ccrc-living-115398.html

 

[Scuba]

I worked for a company that owned and operated CCRC’s for 10 years before we retired. Feel free to post or PM me with any questions.

 

[Koolau]

We looked at a few CCRC (both here and on the mainland.) The "sales" people (to a person) encouraged us to sign up as soon as possible, get on the waiting list and get qualified. We were certain we would qualify financially, but we ignored the ravages of time. No way would I now qualify health wise. SO, if you're interested, you might ask if you can get on the waiting list after qualifying and THEN give up your slot when the time comes (if you're not ready) but stay on the list. We were encouraged to do this (perpetually on the lists until we decided to pull the trigger.) Of course, we didn't do that and I'm okay with our decision. BUT getting qualified isn't a slam dunk - at least not the physical/health part of the qualification. YMMV

 

[Teacher Terry]

A couple of years ago I took my friend to look at ccrc’s where you rented an apartment versus owning. Locally there’s many nice ones to choose from. He had Parkinson’s disease so not in great shape. Initially he qualified for independent living but within 3 months had to move to assisted living.

It was a wonderful place and worth every penny as it kept him out of a nursing home. At the end he was paying 8k/month but was in diapers and needed help to get on and out of bed. Eventually he went on hospice and died there.

 

[harllee]

DH and I are moving into a very nice not for profit CCRC( near where we live now) in July. We are in our early 70s and had been on the waitlist for over 10 years. The waitlist is even longer now--for some units the waitlist is 17 years! It is a Type A CCRC, which is the kind we wanted (you can move from independent living to a higher level of care with no additional fees). It is expensive but worth it for our us. We had a concern--in the last couple of years DH had developed some health issues and we were concerned he could not qualify for entry. Entry is very stringent--you must meet financial requirements, they examine your health records and you must pass a cognitive exam (which is harder than you might think). Because of DH's health issues he had to have a personal meeting with the health director. We were very grateful to be accepted. If you are interested in a CCRC, especially a type A, don't wait too long--you could develop health issues that could disqualify you.