I had no idea. I thought it was all milk and honey.
intercst
7 Likes
Every “retirement community” we have looked at has exit costs of one sort or another.
When I checked my father into one, there was a 100% return of capital option, along with 80% and 50%. Of course the “admission fee” was higher when choosing the 100% option (and they get to use the money while you are there) but that’s what I chose for him. (I forget the exact amounts, but $250k rings in my brain as what it cost at the time, 25 years ago at this particular place.) As it turns out, we had to move him to a home closer to my sister once my mother died, so he got the 100% return *(minus inflation, which was not significant in those years.)
As Mrs. Goofy worries about such things, we have looked into these homes around here (and in Boston, where we will be buried) and the 100% option seems to have gone away. The best offered now are an 80% return and a 60% return, presumably so the heirs will have something and so it sounds like the operator is not trying to pick every nickel from your pocket.
A couple of the homes have been quite nice, enticing, in fact with all services provided and meals prepared, but not for me. I hope to drop dead in my own home and have to be transported out on a stretcher for an over-expensive ambulance ride somewhere.
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Just finished getting mom settled into a memory care place in GA. The compound/neighborhood was set up like a mini all inclusive resort. Private small homes in one section where general yard and home maintenance was done by The Company. Then, if needed, move down the block to assisted living. Essentially condo/apartments where you can get 3 squares a day and other services depending on wants/needs. The final stop, memory care, where they help you with everything. All 3 levels had numerous actives provided, almost like a country club. Pleasantly surprised at the cost for memory care, $6250/month. As far as assisted living/memory care, no buy ins/buy outs. Not sure about the private homes, didn’t ask because it didn’t matter to our situation. My brother said similar setup in CA would be $10-11k, so like any real estate, location, location, location.
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There wasn’t anything in the article that was unique about The Villages. For example, “Assisted living for one runs $5,000 to $6,000. Neither is covered by Medicare beyond short rehab stays. The surviving spouse usually wants to be near adult children, which almost never means staying in Sumter County.”
These days it is common to find one’s children living in a different county/state/country. That means the survivor is going to be moving whether they live in a retirement community or not.
DB2
2 Likes
My in-laws recently moved in to an independent living place. There was no “buy in” (money deposited up front for a space) and it is solely a monthly fee (base plus a fee for second person plus assorted small fees). The only requirement is to notify within one month before the month you are leaving. So worst case you pay for an extra month or two upon exit. Almost all the places we looked at had a similar fee structure, only one or two had buy ins up front. This is in south Florida.
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