Jan 14
Freeway overpass

Where to Search for Senior Living: Near Home or the Kids?

When one considers moving to a senior living community, one of the first decisions an older adult must make is the location. Should they stay near their home, head to a warmer state like Arizona or pick up stakes and move closer to their adult children and grandchildren. Whether the kids live across town or across the country, proximity to family in later years can be a deciding factor.

All these variables may cause this to be a difficult decision for seniors to make.

To help you and your family choose wisely and objectively, we’ve pulled together a few factors to consider.

What to Consider When Choosing a Location for Retirement

Here are a few pieces of advice we can offer you and your loved ones as you grapple with this decision.

  • Consider Your Lifestyle: Are the things that bring you the greatest joy located near your current home? It might be your lifelong friends, your church or other organizations you belong to and enjoy. Giving up all of those connections later in life and rebuilding them somewhere else can be tough.
  • Moving Near the Kids: There is no doubt about it, most grandparents love the idea of being able to enjoy frequent visits with their grandchildren. Living close to your adult children will give you a safety net for travel to medical appointments and help handling issues that might be difficult to handle on your own. But you must ask yourself and your adult children how long they anticipate living in their current location? Do they have a job that may require them to transfer to another city or state? If that happens, you would be left behind in a strange city or forced to relocate again. How willing are you to do either?
  • Health Condition: Do you have a health condition such as arthritis or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) that might improve in a warmer, dryer climate? While the idea of moving to a strange city can be intimidating, better health might be worth the trade-off.
  • Access to Services: Older adults who retire to a Seattle senior living community have the advantage of being close to world-class health care systems and a vibrant community. Not every city has that. Give careful consideration to how important those factors are as you grow older.
  • Family Matters: Your adult children are probably busy with their career and raising their own family. Will moving closer to them give you the opportunity to help lighten their load, especially with regard to the grandchildren? Some families find having a grandparent in a nearby senior living community gives them one more set of hands that can pitch in with homework or a babysitter for Saturday night.
  • Financial Impact: Finally there are the finances of making this move. If an adult child lives in a more expensive metropolitan area, retiring near them might be cost prohibitive. It might be fun to consider moving near a child who calls San Francisco or New York City “home” but will it be financially feasible?

While moving can be tough at any age, it becomes even more difficult in later life. It’s why we recommend taking your time and weighing your options. We hope this information helps make it easier for you to do just that.