Moving into a retirement home – any kind of retirement community – is a major undertaking that has to be evaluated very carefully. The thing is that once you decide to move out of your current home, the chances are that won’t be able to move back again.
If the matter of moving into a senior retirement community is already on the table, then you’re going to have to look at that option from every possible angle and make the right decision… unless it’s already out of your power to decide).
These 5 tips for moving into a retirement home should help you pick the best course of action for yourself. After all, your future is in your hands and you want to make sure you live out your retirement years safely, peacefully, and of course – happily.
1. Weigh the pros and cons of moving into a retirement community
Not surprisingly, moving to a senior retirement community has its share of advantages and disadvantages so it’s imperative that you are aware of those pros and cons in advance so that you can come up with the best possible decision in your particular case.
Costs
When you stay in your current home, you’ll already have a very good idea about your ongoing monthly costs – bills, maintenance costs, insurance, taxes, etc. Additional costs such as in-home health care or renovations are likely to creep in as you age at home.
The costs of living in a retirement community can vary greatly by community type, care level, and location. The price will also be different depending on whether you rent your living space at the retirement home or you buy it. So, you must do an extensive research to figure out whether you can afford a retirement community or not.
Health care risks and isolation
If you happen to live alone in your current home, you’re likely to feel rather lonely and isolated, almost or entirely cut off from any fun social activities. You may even miss doses of required medications or develop a new medication condition that can go untreated for a long time. You could get undernourished if you’re unable to cook for yourself for some reason. The good thing about living in your own home is that you can control the environment there and avoid exposure to any infectious diseases.
Living at a retirement home means you should be able to socialize with the rest of the home residents there, taking an active part in group activities and even outings. Also, the staff of the senior community will check on you daily, making sure you’re okay. Thus said, living in a retirement home can have health care risks too – a virus or an infection can spread there like wildfire due to the shared sources of air, water, and food.
2. Check if you qualify to live in a retirement community
Before you seriously consider moving into a retirement home, first you have to make sure that you qualify to live in a senior retirement community.
As you can guess, almost all senior retirement communities have a minimum age requirement, which basically means that you must be at least a specific age in order to qualify for residency there.
In most cases, the age requirement for moving into a retirement home is 55+ years, but some senior retirement centers require their residents to be 65+ years of age.
If you don’t yet meet the age requirement to move into a retirement home but you’re very close to the said minimum age, some senior communities may make an exception in your case and let you in when you’re close to that age. So, it’s always worth checking it.
Another aspect you should keep in mind is that even when you qualify for a certain retirement home, you may not be able to get into that senior community right away, especially if it happens to be a popular one. In such cases, you may have to get on a waitlist to get into it.
Read also: How to overcome the fear of moving
3. Evaluate your finances
As mentioned above, different retirement communities charge differently and the cost will depend primarily on the quality of their services, the care level they provide, the community type, and the location.
Therefore, it’s important to know upfront which retirement homes you can afford and which ones you can’t. For the purpose, you must ensure that your finances are in order before you proceed with choosing the right senior retirement center for you.
Most continuing care retirement communities and assisted living retirement homes will require detailed documentation about the income and assets of their applicants. If the task of preparing such thorough documentation is too much for you (in most cases it will be), then you can hire a financial planner or a specialized accountant who will help you with the necessary documents.
It’s important to know exactly how much moving into a retirement home will cost you in the long run. Some senior retirement communities offer the buy-in option or entrance fee option. Paying the entrance fee may be lower in the beginning but you’ll probably end up paying for more services later on. Or the entrance fee may be much higher at first but include all the services you’ll ever need once you move into the nursing home.
4. Shop around for a suitable senior community
After making up your mind to move into a retirement home, the next most important decision to make is which senior retirement community to pick for yourself.
While there may be numerous types of retirement communities to choose from in your area, you need to know what to look for: independent living, assisted living, group homes, active adult, and nursing homes. There are also continuing-care communities that offer different environments depending on the elderly people’s needs.
If possible, talk to other senior community residents from the retirement homes you have shortlisted in order to find out what they like and don’t like about their places. That way, you’ll get to hear the real pros and cons of living in those retirement homes instead of trusting blindly the superlatives on their official websites.
Luckily, you’ll be able to find some senior retirement communities that will let you stay there for a while before you sign up – the perfect way to get an idea of what the place is like without having to fully commit in advance. Also, consider the option of staying away from senior communities that require buy-in fees and look for the ones that will you let you rent your living space there.
See also: How to make moving more bearable
5. Get rid of all unnecessary stuff
Moving into a retirement home requires serious preparation as each pre-move task needs to be taken care of one by one. Oftentimes, there will be so many things to do before moving into a senior retirement community that you may feel rather overwhelmed by the overall level of complexity of the relocation.
To organize a smooth move without any added stress whatsoever, you should follow a Moving Checklist – a detailed to-do list that will guide you throughout the moving process all the way until you find yourself in the new place.
Not surprisingly, one of the most critical tasks in your personal moving checklist is the job of sorting out and paring down your possessions. Remember that you won’t need to take too many things with you to the retirement home, so you’ll have to do something about all the items that you can’t move with you.
The purging process – getting rid of unnecessary items – can be extremely hard for many seniors who plan to move into a retirement home. It may be the same for you – you’ll be forced to choose which sentimental items to let go of since you won’t be able to take all of them.
See also: How to help elderly parents downsize
If you need help getting ready to move out, don’t hesitate to contact professional senior movers who can help you declutter your home and move the remaining personal effects to the senior retirement community. It’s always a good thing to know you can rely on professionals during a highly transitional period such as moving into a retirement home.
Thanks for sharing useful information about 5 tips for moving into a retirement home.