Retirement stages: Be prepared or else...

Last week we looked at what financial choices are available to retirees and levels of care that need to be considered. The next level of care is called the assisted living facility. In these facilities, residents get additional housekeeping services, receive assistance with managing their medications, and usually get help with bathing, grooming and dressing. Many also provide group activities for the residents. Assisted living facilities have complicated fee structures based on the level of care you need. Monthly bills average between $3,000 and $5,000 per month. Lastly, nursing homes are for individuals whose disability requires regular skilled nursing care. For most people and their families, these facilities are the option of last resort. Their costs are high, usually averaging about $200 per day or $6,000 per month and can go as high as $10,000 per month.

Other housing options are also available for seniors. There are group homes, which provide independent, private living but in a house shared with several seniors who split the rent, housekeeping services, utilities, and meals. Some homeowners who want to share their house with others offer shared housing. Many times the homeowner is a widow or widower who is looking for companionship as well as for someone to help with. I’m sure you’ve figured out by now that choosing a retirement location requires a lot of research. Your flexibility during retirement increases in communities that provide greater choice of living options for seniors. Making the right choice up front can not only save you a lot of money but will also prevent you having to move a great distance as your needs change or if you find out you just hate the place you chose.

Retirement Stages
As we’ve talked about the different types of living arrangements and health-care needs, I’m sure you’ve begun to realise that your life in retirement will not be one long stage in which all your needs will remain exactly the same. Planners have found that, in general, there are actually three stages of retirement.

1. Active Stage.  This is the time you really get to enjoy all the money you so carefully socked away. Your health will be in good shape and you’ll be able to travel and do things you dreamed about. Living costs will probably be nearly the same as they were when you were working.
2. Passive Stage. During this stage, you will find that you need to slow down, but will still be healthy enough to remain independent and in your own home. Living costs will probably be the cheapest in this stage because your medical bills will not be that high and your travel, transportation, clothing, and entertainment costs will probably decrease.
3. Dependent Stage. Unless you are one of the lucky few, you will get to a stage of your life where you are dependent on others in order to meet your daily needs of life. You may even need to move to a facility that can offer you more intensive care.
Living costs in this stage can sometimes be the highest because of your need for the services of skilled nursing care.

Travel and Leisure Goals
Now we’ll move on to the fun stuff! I hope all this talk of varying living needs hasn’t been too depressing. Unfortunately, they are the realities of the retirement phase of life.
Hopefully, you will have entered retirement without having to work full time to make ends meet and with enough money to do the things you never had time for while you were working. If you have, the possibilities are limited only by your imagination and what you want to do with your time. Let’s revisit the dream list you created at the start. How many of those items fit in the category of travel and leisure goals?
In addition to the goals you have already identified, retirement can be a time to learn new things, try things you’ve never tried before and it can also be a time during which you strive to grow spiritually. Don’t get too rigid about your dreams and forget to enjoy things that just happen to come your way.
Continued next week