Thinking of Moving

[redduck]

Keep Looking!

+1000
You can do better, for less.

Teamed up on me, did you? (Either that, or this is an example of great minds thinking alike).

 

[Sunset]

OP - A big risk with this place is what if you hate it incredibly after moving there 6 months or a year later. Do you really lose the $100,000 for a short stay or do they pro-rate the cost per year (example $10K per year for first 10 years).

 

[redduck]

OP - A big risk with this place is what if you hate it incredibly after moving there 6 months or a year later. Do you really lose the $100,000 for a short stay or do they pro-rate the cost per year (example $10K per year for first 10 years).

Good question. I don't know if they pro-rate if the stay is under a year. (Didn't even occur to me). But, it did sound like whenever if you leave, you lose the $100,000. There is another hitch regarding the return of the money. They can keep the money for up to 18 months or until they rent your vacated unit--which ever comes first. They will pay you 4% interest while you wait to be refunded.

 

[NW-Bound]

The other place we visited was like a new five-star hotel. Very modern, well-lit, great swimming pool, nice gym, nice exercise room. Also has a bar with several TV’s and has huge TV screen in a theater-like room. This place is located in a terrific area;--very pretty with walking paths. The area has security, restaurants, a Whole Foods, etc. The people living there seemed very happy and energetic.

We each would get a $300 dining room allowance per month. Valet parking only—but no tipping. All for $6000 for two. The $6000 will increase by approximately 5% every year.

However, for the privilege of living there you need to put up $1M. When you leave (for whatever reason) they will return $900,000.

Sounds very upscale, like living full-time in a resort. Being an anti-social recluse, I don't know if this would be for me, never mind the cost.

What else is available, like house cleaning, medical staff on-call, for additional costs of course?

 

[zinger1457]

Unless one of the spouses is infirmed and needs constant care it seems to me you could live in a nice condo (low maintenance) somewhere and just hire a regular housekeeper and even a home chef for a lot less. I guess living in an environment of all old people just doesn't appeal to me, the 'constant complaining' gene seems to kick in around 65-70 and would drive me nuts.

 

[Moemg]

Teamed up on me, did you? (Either that, or this is an example of great minds thinking alike).

I now see that this is Los Angeles so that explains that pricing . I am all for life style communities that start with independent living and let you progress thru assisted living and nursing home if needed .My Mother spent her last five years in one .Hers was a nice but more middle class community .Where I live there are some really fancy life communities . I can see the value of them in your 70's and maybe part of your 80's but will you really care about the upscale amenities when you are in your 90's and need assisted living ?

 

[street]

That is a big decision to make. If it were me I would move and down size to purchased home and close to where you are close to what you want to be close too. I then would use that money that you would of spent on that retirement community and have hire someone to do meals, maintence and help both of you as you age. For 6K a month plus food bill and 100K you should be able to find a person to help and be able to pay them well. It is just a thought.

 

[dixonge]

Sounds like an expensive version of a cruise ship, with less entertainment...cheaper than this thing

the-world-luxury-ship

Maybe something like this would be better?

Senior Living Residences | NOHO Senior Arts Colony

 

[ivinsfan]

That is a big decision to make. If it were me I would move and down size to purchased home and close to where you are close to what you want to be close too. I then would use that money that you would of spent on that retirement community and have hire someone to do meals, maintence and help both of you as you age. For 6K a month plus food bill and 100K you should be able to find a person to help and be able to pay them well. It is just a thought.

This seems like a good in between move from where you live now and the million dollar option.

Downsize, declutter, find a combination of housecleaner, blue apron type service for cooking, no outside chores to worry about. Use Uber to see if it could be an option when you no longer want to drive.

The real sticking point IMO is what happens when one of you is gone, the wants and desires of the surviving spouse might not be to stay in assisted living and you will have burned a lot of capital in the meantime.

If course the place you visited seemed appealing it's very costly. In your shoes I'd find a condo/townhome in a 55 plus community and see how I like living in a development with close neighbors. This is an issue my spouse and I might have sometime, as my DH has spend all but about 5 of his almost 70 years living on a farm and finds anything else too busy and not private.

 

[walkinwood]

Sure. I can share a bit...

Thank you.

We're in our 50s, but with no kids or even relatives near by, we sometimes ponder this same issue. We do have a wonderful friends circle and we've already demonstrated that we'll go out of our way to help each other. Fortunately, we live in a city so access & assistance is easy, even if a bit more expensive.

Good luck to you & the duchess.

 

[NYEXPAT]

My parents bought into a lovely place in Florida back in the late 90's. My father lived there for 20 years before he passed, my Mom about 13 years. Original cost was $250k for a large two bedroom/two bath cottage w/den. The monthly cost's were between 5k-6k a month and maybe included 30 meals a month in one of the three restaurants. They had a full kitchen and cooked most meals or dined in town. Had a car and golf cart until probably the last two or three years of my Dad's life. When you passed, ownership reverted back to the Developers.

The neighbors set up a fund to pay the monthly cost's for anybody who was no longer able to pay. I visited on many occasions over the years and thought the food was good, but my father would complain all the time that they were cutting costs and substituting inferior ingredients, etc. A long time chef left and opened a restaurant in town and many residents started going there instead of the dining room.

 

[Scrapr]

We placed (forced) our folks into Assisted Living 2 years ago. We looked at several places and one was similar to your nice hotel choice. I commented to my wife that we should move in. Very nice

Went home and started checking out reviews and comments. Wheeeww. 2 & 3 Directors in a year. And this unit was across the parking lot from the HQ. Many many complaints about treatment of staff. And low staffing numbers. There is a key card swipe next to the door as you go in. I ws afraid that the staff would use that as a money grab

We settled on a more modest AL

Good luck

 

[redduck]

What else is available, like house cleaning, medical staff on-call, for additional costs of course?

House cleaning weekly. No extra cost. I don't know how medical situations are charged.

Unless one of the spouses is infirmed and needs constant care it seems to me you could live in a nice condo (low maintenance) somewhere and just hire a regular housekeeper and even a home chef for a lot less. I guess living in an environment of all old people just doesn't appeal to me, the 'constant complaining' gene seems to kick in around 65-70 and would drive me nuts.

We are thinking about possibly moving into a condo and hiring a house-keeper and maybe someone to kind of take care of the errands, etc. (run the household) maybe 2X's a week.

I have only one friend who constantly complained, but he was complaining when I met him (we were in our mid-twenties). Fifty years later, he's still complaining.

Maybe something like this would be better?

Senior Living Residences | NOHO Senior Arts Colony

Saw and ad in the paper about this place. We will check it out. It's fairly close to where we are living now.

This seems like a good in between move from where you live now and the million dollar option.

Downsize, declutter, find a combination of housecleaner, blue apron type service for cooking, no outside chores to worry about. Use Uber to see if it could be an option when you no longer want to drive.

redduck says:I think this is doable and probably the most realistic option.

The real sticking point IMO is what happens when one of you is gone, the wants and desires of the surviving spouse might not be to stay in assisted living and you will have burned a lot of capital in the meantime.

redduck says: I think for us, when one of us is gone, assisted living would be welcomed by the surviving spouse.

.., as my DH has spend all but about 5 of his almost 70 years living on a farm and finds anything else too busy and not private.

Your DH and I have a lot in common--once on a field trip in second grade, I got to pet a cow.

 

[redduck]

My parents bought into a lovely place in Florida back in the late 90's. My father lived there for 20 years before he passed, my Mom about 13 years. Original cost was $250k for a large two bedroom/two bath cottage w/den.

If we weren't tied to Los Angeles, we'd have many more attractive options. But, all the kids and grandchildren are here. Everybody is within a 15 minute drive from the expensive Continuing Care facility. An option is to rent an apartment in the little area (neighborhood) that the CC facility is in and see how we like it. A two-bedroom apartment runs about $4500 a month. Funny, a few years ago $4500 a month would have sounded outrageous to me, now it just sounds like a lot of money. If the market crashes, I'm not sure what $4500 will sound like.

 

[NW-Bound]

... my DH has spend all but about 5 of his almost 70 years living on a farm...

Your DH and I have a lot in common--once on a field trip in second grade, I got to pet a cow.

You got to pet a cow in 2nd grade? I have not, in all my 62 years.

The only time I got close to a cow was just a few years ago in an RV trip up the California coast, I took a photo of the head of a cow peering at me across a fence. I even posted that photo here too. Nice, nice cow. Can't remember what the thread topic was to make the photo suitable, but that never stopped me before from sharing a photo that I thought was nice.

 

[nwsteve]

Hey, braumeister, it's me, redduck...remember!!! Just how do you feel I would do on a trial basis? What they do is, they invite you back for meals and activities. They also have an expert(?) in helping you downsize your home. Additionally, they will connect you with a real estate agent if you need one. I would doubt they have a trial basis program set up--sounds like it would be too risky for them.

Sounds like you are considering s CCRC--it that what you are looking at?
If you have not looked at the sticky thread on this it will be worth your time.
We have also been looking at this option and found most of the ones we have visited offer at least a one night stay in a unit. Most of the properties seem to have a guest unit that a resident can make available for a family member to visit them on a space available.
We have looked at probably 10 locations and visited three so far. Big difference between "Life Care" CCRC and the rest--certainly more expensive but you are basically prepaying LTC and assuring yourself you will be aging out where you want.

 

[haha]

Redduck, do you live up in the Hollywood Hills now? Just come down the hill, look at nice apartments in West LA. then if you don't like it much, there is at most the remainder of a one year lease. You don't even need a car if you don't want one.

These packages are like an Army career-fine for the right type person, but not so good for others.

Ha

 

[redduck]

Sounds like you are considering s CCRC--it that what you are looking at?
If you have not looked at the sticky thread on this it will be worth your time.
Big difference between "Life Care" CCRC and the rest--certainly more expensive but you are basically prepaying LTC and assuring yourself you will be aging out where you want.

I keep forgetting about the sticky threads. Thanks for the reminder.
The process of our looking is just starting. We are not sure what we are looking for, so I guess we are just trying to learning what the options are.

Redduck, do you live up in the Hollywood Hills now? Just come down the hill, look at nice apartments in West LA. then if you don't like it much, there is at most the remainder of a one year lease. You don't even need a car if you don't want one.

These packages are like an Army career-fine for the right type person, but not so good for others.

Ha

Yes, still up in the hills. We do need to check out West LA apartments. Driving by, we see those apartments, and they look very nice, but finding a quiet one may be difficult.

 

[Scuba]

A few thoughts. I know quite a bit about the senior living industry so if you would like to PM me for more detailed info, feel free.
- The community you’re looking at sounds very nice. If it is owned by a not-for-profit organization, which it likely is, have your accountant check out their finances or talk directly to the CFO yourself. That will help you decide how secure your $900K is.
- CCRC living is great for some, but not for everyone.
- One thing to consider is how that 5% will look, compounded every year. Many folks I’ve encountered didn’t seem to truly understand what 5% increase year in, year out, really means. Run the numbers.
- I suspect you are pretty young to be thinking about this. The average age of move-in for CCRC’s is low to mid 80’s. If this is a new community, it could be a bit lower, but is probably still 80+. Do you want to be surrounded by others your age and older, all the time?

Good luck. It’s a big decision but can be great for some folks.

 

[Running_Man]

My inlaws did this to move into a higher priced one in Scottsdale, mostly former CEO types are living there, where the costs are about 20-25% lower but essentially the same. It was the best thing they ever did, they moved in around age 75 and if they had waited too many more years they never would have had the energy to do so. Now in their 90's they are still both independent living and the reduced stress of having someone clean, bake and having socialization has been very good.

I think if one could afford it, better quality is money well worth spending

 

[sengsational]

You can buy complete dinners there for about $9-12. Breakfasts I think run about $6-7. The residents told us the food was quite good (and, I would think this is a demanding crowd). Top-end dinners cost about $16.

Seems like a bit of your interest is food-driven?

One thing I'd say you'd be wise to consider, Mr. Duck, is that you WILL get tired of that kitchen! So many meals cooked elsewhere will start to taste better.

How can I make this claim? Well, it is the difference between the first meal on the college meal plan and the last. The difference between the first meal on the 21 day cruise and the last. The started out top notch, and ended top notch. But YOU change!

I wonder if there's a similar arrangement were you just do UberEats. It might be more varied and the same or less money. And you might find that the occasional home-cooked meal is kind of a fun distraction.

 

[redduck]

Seems like a bit of your interest is food-driven?

Someone posted and asked me about the food costs--I guess that was the post you read. Anyhow, they don't give you enough of a meal allowance to have all your meals in the dining area --unless you want to pay out of pocket. The apartments have kitchens: full-size fridge, medium size stove and a microwave. You can easily make your own meals.

 

[redduck]

A few thoughts. I know quite a bit about the senior living industry so if you would like to PM me for more detailed info, feel free.
- The community you’re looking at sounds very nice. If it is owned by a not-for-profit organization, which it likely is, have your accountant check out their finances or talk directly to the CFO yourself. That will help you decide how secure your $900K is.
- CCRC living is great for some, but not for everyone.
- One thing to consider is how that 5% will look, compounded every year. Many folks I’ve encountered didn’t seem to truly understand what 5% increase year in, year out, really means. Run the numbers.
- I suspect you are pretty young to be thinking about this. The average age of move-in for CCRC’s is low to mid 80’s. If this is a new community, it could be a bit lower, but is probably still 80+. Do you want to be surrounded by others your age and older, all the time?

Good luck. It’s a big decision but can be great for some folks.

Thanks for the generous offer of the PM.
I didn't think of having my CPA check this place out.
I kind of thought about what that yearly 5% compounded increase means. But, then I decided I really didn't want to know. (I have a feeling it's a deal-breaker--in which case I won't be taking you up on the PM offer).
It's a new community.
As for being around old people all the time--I guess that's what it would be like in the building itself, but step outside and there are people of all ages.

 

[redduck]

My inlaws did this to move into a higher priced one in Scottsdale, mostly former CEO types are living there, where the costs are about 20-25% lower but essentially the same. It was the best thing they ever did, they moved in around age 75 and if they had waited too many more years they never would have had the energy to do so. Now in their 90's they are still both independent living and the reduced stress of having someone clean, bake and having socialization has been very good.

I think if one could afford it, better quality is money well worth spending

Some of the residents we talked to also said it was the best thing they ever did. From listening to them, it sounded like they have done some very good things and obviously have made wise decisions along the way. They did talk about reduced stress and the easy socialization process.

I just have the feeling that they are mostly dividend investors.

 

[ivinsfan]

Thanks for the generous offer of the PM.
I didn't think of having my CPA check this place out.
I kind of thought about what that yearly 5% compounded increase means. But, then I decided I really didn't want to know. (I have a feeling it's a deal-breaker--in which case I won't be taking you up on the PM offer).
It's a new community.
As for being around old people all the time--I guess that's what it would be like in the building itself, but step outside and there are people of all ages.

And if they admit to 5% yearly who really knows how high the number could be, is there a cap written into the by-laws?