Retirement is the time of our lives we all work so hard to reach. It’s our chance to chase our wildest dreams or just kick back and relax. Passions are no longer resigned to side projects and the world is your oyster. But even the hard-earned victories come with some difficult choices to be made, and one of the biggest considerations for many retirees is the question of where to live.
Where to Spend Your Retirement Years: Factors to Consider
Choosing where to spend your retirement years is an important decision, and there are a lot of things to consider. Each individual’s choices are unique and the pros and cons for the different styles of retirement living will never be the same from one household to the next. But at the end of the day, there are two main choices for retirement living: staying at home or moving to a retirement community. How do you determine which is the right fit for you?
Here are some things to consider.
Household Maintenance
As you get older, taking care of the house you’ve been living in for years gets more difficult. Whether it’s navigating stairs more frequently or maintaining the landscaping of your home, the truth is that a lot of family homes are bigger than most seniors need. They were the perfect size when you were raising the kids and when the first grandkids started popping up, but as your children find homes of their own and start hosting holidays, household maintenance can be difficult to justify — let alone enjoy.
No matter your address, you will always have the memories you made in your house, so if the downsides are outweighing the upsides of staying put, that’s something worth considering.
Monthly Expenses
You’ve worked hard and done everything you can to make sure that your retirement years are leisurely and affordable. Still, shifting from earning your wages to a fully-fixed income for the foreseeable future can be a little intimidating at first. Of course, when you own your home, you have a pretty good idea of what your monthly expenses will look like on the living front. But you have to consider other expenses as well — things such as medical care, hobbies and entertainment, groceries and dining out, gym memberships or other wellness-related expenses. When you live at home, all of these expenses come out of pocket.
Moving to a retirement community can be a pricey venture, but the benefits you gain (and the personal responsibilities you get to hand off) can be worth it for many seniors. Plus, once you’re settled in your new community, you have a solid and clear idea of what your monthly expenses will look like — all amenities included.
Proximity
Location matters. As you enter your treasured retirement years, proximity to a number of things matters even more. Proximity to family and friends and where you work out, indulge in your favorite hobbies, meet up for dinner with friends, shop and more. Being close to the things that matter most in your life is a major factor in determining whether staying at home or moving to a senior living community is the best choice for you.
The Benefits of Community Living
If you’ve weighed all of the factors and making the move to an independent living community is still on the table, the next step is to learn more about what you can gain from community living.
Regardless of whether you’re feeling positive or apprehensive about the potential move, it can be overwhelming to look at the seemingly endless retirement community options available to you. Narrowing down your options is easier when you know what benefits you can expect.
Here are some of the biggest perks to living in a senior community:
- Minimized home maintenance
- Regulated monthly expenses
- Personal development and healthcare options
- Engaging social activities
- Quick access to medical care
- A community of like-minded individuals
How to Choose the Community That’s Right For You
Beyond the basic benefits, choosing the retirement community that’s right for you comes down to knowing what you need and want, and finding the community that offers the best of both worlds. After all, you’ve worked hard to reach retirement, you shouldn’t have to compromise now that you’re here. If sorting through all the options has left you feeling a little unsure, digging into a handful of considerations will help you figure out how reputable a community really is, and what you can expect your daily life to look like at a particular community.
Levels of Care
What are the care options available on-site? While you may not need specialized care at this point in your life, it’s important to understand what the community offers not only for your current needs, but for potential future needs as well. Some senior retirement communities offer only basic medical care, some offer none at all, and some may offer limited levels of nursing or in-home care. At Village on the Green, we are proud to offer a full continuum of care options for however your needs may change and evolve over your retirement years.
Amenities
Just like you’d take into account amenities at an apartment complex or on a luxury vacation, amenities can make or break your choice in a senior living community, and rightfully so. Amenities can range widely from one community to the next.
The amenities that matter most to you are likely unique, but we suggest ensuring that your basic needs can be covered by what’s available. Typically, that means you’ll want at least a gym or fitness center on-site, a library, a variety of dining venues and a well-kept calendar of events and activities with plenty of options for socialization and hobby-finding.
Take a Tour
The best way to get a genuine feel for the atmosphere, amenities and overall vibe of a community is to visit for yourself and take a tour. Scheduling a tour with a few of the communities that have made it through your first round of vetting gives you the best shot at finding the one that feels the most like home.
What Village on The Green Offers Residents
Village on the Green is a Life Care community dedicated to helping you make the most of your retirement years. We focus on highly personalized service and providing the highest quality of care, top-notch amenities and the kind of community you’d be proud to call home.
That means something different for everyone, but to us, it means:
- Health services with a 5-Star rating from CMS and Gold Seal rating from the State of Florida
- Multiple dining venues
- Social, cultural, and educational events and activities
- Fitness center
- Comprehensive health and wellness programs
- Barber and salon
- Pool and spa
- Game room
- Woodworking shop
- Craft room
- Community-sponsored trips
But even more than that, Village on the Green is here to grow with you in your retirement years. We work closely with all of our residents to make sure the community is meeting their needs at every level, but especially where healthcare is involved. Our Life Care philosophy means that however your medical and health needs change throughout your retirement, Village on the Green can continue to be home. We offer assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing, and senior rehabilitation services should you ever need them.
Ready to see what life at Village on the Green could look like for you? Schedule a tour today.
