Making a Move: Packing Parties and Other Creative Ideas
Recently I had the chance to speak with a couple that lives in a continuing care retirement community (CCRC or “life plan community”) in Virginia. Let’s call them Joe and Becky. […]
How CCRCs Can Ease Retirement-Related Fears
As I present to and talk with people at continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs, also called life plan communities) across the country, there are certain “recurring themes” that I hear. One subject that is frequently voiced revolves around the stress associated with envisioning and planning for the future, and indeed, it can feel like a [...]
How to Analyze the Quality of a CCRC Healthcare Center
There are countless benefits to living in a continuing care retirement community (CCRC, also called a life plan community)–from engaging and fun social opportunities to top-notch amenities and services–but one of the chief reasons for considering a move to a CCRC is the accessibility of healthcare services if and when you need them. A CCRC [...]
Proposed Tax Change Could Be Costly for Older Americans
If you saw President Trump’s recently proposed tax plan, you may have been struck by several things. First, its brevity. The country’s current tax code is a monster at tens of thousands of pages long. The plan proposed by Trump was a mere one page. Talk about concise! There were aspects of the plan that [...]
The Number 1 Deciding Factor When Choosing a CCRC
The most important thing is to enjoy your life—to be happy—it's all that matters. ― Audrey Hepburn What makes you happy? It’s a broad question, and the answer is unique to each person. Maybe you’re an extrovert who loves spending time out and about with friends and meeting new people. Maybe it’s traveling…seeing the world and [...]
Who Decides if a CCRC Resident Needs a Higher Level of Care?
Continuing care retirement communities, often referred to as CCRCs or “life plan communities,” provide residents who are living independently today with access to a full spectrum of care services that may be necessary in the future, including assisted living, memory care, and/or skilled nursing care. But this leads to a couple of questions from prospective [...]
Refundable Entry Fees: Time for a Change
I am a big fan of continuing care retirement communities (also known as CCRCs or life plan communities), specifically the ones that are well-run, financially sound, and put residents and staff first. Compared to the myriad challenges and uncertainty that often come with aging at home, particularly when one’s mobility or cognitive functions decline, CCRCs provide [...]
4 Ways CCRCs Help Seniors Stay Healthy
A quick glance at the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA’s) World Factbook, which tracks life expectancy at birth for every country in the world, revealed a surprising truth: In 2016, with a life expectancy of 79.8 years, the United States was only ranked 42 out of 224 countries. I don’t know about you, but I would [...]
4 Must-Dos of Retirement Planning
A recent study conducted by Merrill Lynch (in collaboration with Age Wave) sought to determine which areas of life are the top priorities of Americans so that financial planners could offer better advice on retirement planning. While of course people’s priorities shift and evolve over time, this “Finances in Retirement: New Challenges, New Solutions” study [...]
Are CCRC Refundable Entry Fee Contracts a Good Deal?
According to data collected at myLifeSite, about three quarters of all continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs, or “life plan communities”) require an entry fee, and about 80 percent of these offer a refundable entry fee, with 50 percent and 90 percent refunds being the most popular. It isn’t uncommon for one community to offer a [...]