Continuing Care Retirement Communities, Part 2–Four Ways to Figure Out if They’re Worth the Money

Retro black and white photo of a woman at a desk studying if continuing care retirement communities are worth it.
The takeaway:  Continuing Care Retirement Communities give you a place to live, provide lots of amenities and activities, and–depending on your contract–include long-term care.  This post provides four steps to help you decide if these places are worth the money.  The post also tells my experiences and impressions visiting two different communities in two different states.  Your mileage may vary.  😉 

$$$

In the last column we talked about Continuing Care Retirement Communities.   These communities are housing developments that let you age in place, while also providing long-term care if you need it. They are one of the three major types of long-term care insurance you can buy; the other two were discussed in an earlier post.   

Continuing Care Retirement Communities have some amazing amenities and offer help and services that might otherwise fall on your family to provide for you.  

Nonetheless, these places aren’t for everyone.  On a daily basis, you’re reminded that, at some point in this play called life, you’ll be called to exit stage left.  

Black and white photo of woman in silk pajamas, talking on phone to a continuing care retirement community.

I’m currently in a meeting and way too busy to come in.  Just mail me the price list and all the promotional materials.  When my busy schedule lets up, I’ll drop by for a look around.

The best way to decide if one of these places is for you is to:

  1. get a list of the entrance and monthly fees;
  2. get written promotional materials, evaluate, the offerings, and decide if it seems worth the price;
  3. tour the community to get a vibe of the place, and;
  4. then, if you’re still interested, interview the sales staff, to whom you can direct the really tough questions.

Check out the four steps to see if these places are worth the money!”

Step 1.  Get the price list.

The list should look like the prices quoted in the previous post on these communities. 

Step 2.  Get the promotional materials and see if it has these amenities and activities.  

Evaluate these against the price you’ll be paying.  Promotional material typically has wonderful photos of the community and its amenities.  Determine if the following are worth the money.

1. Housing units, like

  • studio apartments;,
  • one and two bedroom apartments;
  • duplexes; and
  • single family homes.

2. Meals, which can include

Vintage photo of three female chefs, holding freshly baked donuts in a continuing care retirement community.

We serve nothing but the most nutritious food.  How about a donut?

  • meal plans and
  • community dining hall programs for those who don’t want to cook

3. Existence of wellness facilities and personnel, like

  • a walk-in medical clinic;
  • pharmacy;
  • onsite doctor;
  • onsite nurse;
  • personal trainers; and
  • physical therapists.
Vintage black and white photo of a woman in a bathing suit and bathing cap smiling because she lives in a continuing care retirement community.

You’d look like me too if you lived here.

4. Recreation facilities, like

  • putting greens;
  • weight rooms;
  • swimming pools; and
  • tennis courts.

5. Availability of classes, like

  • tai chi;
  • balance mechanics;
  • water aerobics; and
  • life-long learning courses through the local colleges. 

6. Home care maintenance, like

  • housekeeping;
  • home maintenance; and
  • yard maintenance.
Woman on bicycle pulling man on tricycle through a continuing care retirement community

I love that this place provides transportation to my doctor and fashioner designer.

7. Transportation to such places as

  • grocery stores;
  • shopping malls; and
  • doctors’ offices.

8. Types of services offered, like

  • housekeeping;
  • laundry; and
  • yard maintenance.

9. Types of social activities, like

  • movie nights;
  • field trips; and
  • on-site live entertainment.

10. Existence of onsite chapel and religious services.

Step 3. Tour the Continuing Care Retirement Community and ask yourself these questions.

Vintage photo of two women on a four-wheeled bicycle touring a continuing care retirement community.

Tour the community.

If the price of the housing and amenities seems worth the money, take a tour of the community.  See if the hype matches reality.  While touring the community, ask yourself the following.

  1. Are the housing units appealing?
  2. Are there plenty of common meeting areas throughout the community to facilitate social engagement?
  3. Do residents seem generally happy or is there a bleak vibe permeating the place?
  4. Is the community well maintained or a little down in the heels?
  5. Is it clean?
  6. Are staff friendly?
  7. What’s the assisted living area like?
  8. Do nursing home residents seem well-cared for?
  9. Does the promotional material live up to its billing?
  10. Could I be happy living and aging here?

Sidebar:  My experience touring two continuing care retirement communities.

Vintage black and white photo of a female driving open air car wearing an aviator mask and hat on her way to a continuing care retirement community.

Yours truly drove to continuing care retirement communities in two different states to see how they compared. (I need a life!)

For this post, I paid a couple of anonymous visits to two of these communities in two states.  (Boomer, I need a life!) I ate a meal at each and saw the inside of some housing units.  The housing units were generally light and airy.  The food at one was quite good, while food at the other was clearly institutional. 

One of the places had considerably more meeting places scattered throughout, where residents could socialize with each other, play cards, watch movies, and work gigantic jigsaw puzzles.  The other community seemed to place some chairs here and there and considered that enough.  

In both places, residents varied widely in physical capacity.  Some looked ready for the pickle ball court.  Others looked like it was time to call the coroner. Staff at both seemed warm and friendly, but were in greater abundance at one community than the other.  

The nursing homes at both had superior ratings.

Vintage photo of a couple, with her eating daintily with a fork and he's using a small shovel

Eat if you must, but this food is terrible!

The community whose layout had more opportunities for social engagement and more friendly staff had, by far, the worst food.

The one with the fewer meeting places had a wider variety of housing options and a more beautiful setting–not to mention some pretty tasty food..  

It’s all in what appeals to you and what you’re willing to live with–and without.”

If you’ve got the money, there’s something to be said for these communities.  But it could be a financial disaster if you were to choose wrong. 

Step 4.  Ask sales staff the right questions. 

In the next post, we’ll discuss step 4.  Hint:  it’s road-tested questions to ask the sales staff about the community.  It needs a post all its own.  You’ve got a lot of money–and your long-term care–riding on this thing.  It literally pays to take your time and make sure it’s right for you.  

See you in September! 

(Hey!  That might make a great song title…  😀 )

$$$