Yes, we can hear you groaning from here – the whole “sense” and “cents” thing is something you’re probably seeing a lot of these days. After all, it’s the beginning of the year, and if you’re like many of us, you’ve made a New Year’s resolution to eat better, get in shape and – most importantly for the purpose of this blog – save money.
Hold on, you may be saying. Wouldn’t moving into senior care cost a lot more than living in my own, paid-off home and hiring assistance as needed?
Short answer? No. Long answer? No. (Okay, we’ll explain why.)
Here’s the thing: living on your own, even in a paid-off home, has a lot of expenses and hidden costs you might not realize. Sure, you no longer have a mortgage payment, but you still have to pay for utilities, real estate taxes, maintenance fees, et cetera, et cetera. And that’s just for starters. What about things like going grocery shopping? Hiring a housekeeper (or cleaning the house yourself – ugh!). Dealing with landscaping and all that jazz?
Just how much are you actually paying each month for the convenience of not having a mortgage payment? If you sit down with all your monthly expenses, you may be surprised – and a little shocked – at how much you’re spending.
The other thing to consider is the future cost of senior care. Sure, you’re healthy and active and independent now. But as we get older, our health needs can shift and change, and we may find ourselves dealing with mobility issues, chronic health issues and other things. What happens if you end up needing a walker – but you still have to go up and down flights of stairs in order to live a “full” life? How about driving – is that something you’ll still feel comfortable doing if your eyesight starts to fade? You can manage all these concerns by, of course, hiring assistance as needed. But still, when you look at it … that’s a lot of hassle, not to mention a lot of dollars and cents.
Now, let’s take a look at a community like Melrose Meadows. Sure, you have a monthly rent payment (we’re a rental community, meaning there are no huge entrance fees and you’re not forever locked in to something). But that’s really it. Seriously! Our community takes a maintenance-free, easy-peasy approach (like most senior living communities). So, in that monthly rent payment, you’re also getting:
● Two to three delicious meals a day
● All sorts of activities and events
● Transportation
● Everything taken care of for you in terms of repairs, landscaping – you name it
● Housekeeping services
● New friends (who couldn’t use a few more of those?)
● And a lot more besides!
Look, we totally get it. Everyone wants to live in their own home as they get older. Something like 9 out of 10 adults say they want to live on their own during their senior years. But here’s an intangible that a lot of people don’t think about: your “home” can be any place you make it. Especially if you end up moving to a community like Melrose Meadows well before you “need” it. A lot of our residents have done just that, and they have loved being able to integrate themselves into the lifestyle here, meet other like them and make it “theirs.”
As you’re doing your budget for the rest of the year, we’d like you to do something for us: use a budgeting service like Mint (or any other you like) to really do a deep dive into what you’re spending each month. Once you look at all the things you’re really paying for – even though you don’t have a mortgage payment – we encourage you to take a look at the costs and benefits that you get at Melrose. Then, consider the value of peace-of-mind. You may find it makes more “cents” than you first expected!
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