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Is a Retirement Community for Me?

When deciding whether to stay within your own home or move into a senior living community, there’s a lot to consider. How do you know if you’re making the right decision? What could senior living options bring to the table? What are the benefits of either option? What are the risks? Use the guide below to help answer these questions and more.

Considerations for Staying at Home Vs. Moving Into a Senior Living Community

If you feel uncertain whether moving into a retirement community is the right choice for you, consider these factors:

Homeowner responsibilities

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As a homeowner, you have many responsibilities that can be costly, time-consuming, and labor-intensive. If you’re getting to an age where cleaning the gutters or tidying up the house feels too strenuous, it might be time to consider senior living. Without having a home to maintain, you can enjoy your apartment, and let staff at your retirement community take care of the rest. Giving your body a break from arduous tasks can be good for your health, and reducing responsibilities gives you more free time to enjoy the activities and family you love.

Social engagement

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If you’re living alone, it’s common to feel isolated, lonely, or bored. The hours can stretch into days, and without activities or others around you, keeping track of time can be difficult. One of the many benefits to switching up your living situation is having easy access to many services, amenities, and activities with others. Offering dynamic and diverse activity calendars, senior living communities encourage you to take up new hobbies, join a new fitness class, attend lectures on topics of interest, and spend your time doing whatever it is that you love most. Even during the COVID-19 “stay home, stay healthy” period, residents at Era Living communities have access to a variety of life enrichment activities delivered in new, creative ways that honor physical distancing, while enabling mental and physical engagement and social connection.

Health and wellness

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Whether it’s just being outside or joining friends for a fitness class, it’s important to you to maintain your physical health. But sometimes it’s hard to stay motivated, or to find the means to leave your house for outside services. Staying healthy and independent are integral parts of today’s senior living communities. Offering health and wellness programs, communities often offer access to qualified fitness professionals, special diet meal plans, aquatic and fitness centers, low-impact aerobics, and yoga classes, just to name a few. By emphasizing ‘whole-person’ wellness, it’s easier than ever to support and strengthen your mind, body, and spirit.

Future planning

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Currently, you may feel good about your living situation, but it’s important that if and/or when you need a little help, you’ll be offered assisted living or wellness services. A move into a senior living community could ensure a lifestyle that promotes healthy living, as well as offers additional care needs if your health changes in the future. Additionally, accessibility needs (now, or future) are something to consider as well. Regardless of your current needs, researching communities now and adding yourself to their waitlists may be a good idea. Doing so enables you to continue living however you prefer, with the option to revisit your choices once the wait period has ended. With the multitude of senior living options, it’s possible to find a community that works best for you.

Cost

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Whether your house mortgage is paid off or extremely low, it’s easy to assume that continuing to live at home is cheaper than other solutions. However, there are multiple factors that play into home ownership—regardless of your current mortgage. Consider the annual costs of continual home maintenance, as well as rising property taxes, the price of utilities—not to mention the costs of your time and labor spent handling household chores, yard work, and more. Selling your home also provides cash that you can use to invest and with the goal of creating an income stream for your retirement years (it’s wise to speak to a financial advisor before heading down this path).

Download our cost comparison worksheet to crunch the numbers and assess what best fits your current budget.

Take Our Senior Living Quiz

Still not sure whether senior living is for you? Take our quiz to find out more.

Take the Quiz