Moving in to independent or assisted living.

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26. There are two extremely popular continuing care retirement communities

in Chapel Hill, NC. One has been around for 40 years--was a leader in the field--and has lengthy wait lists. I just checked it, and the average wait for a studio is 3 years; for a 1 bedroom apartment the wait is 6-20 years (average 13); and anything else (including the cottages) the wait is 11-17.5 years (average 13). There's a declining scale to return the entrance fee; after 50 months, it's zero return and the entrance fees range from $103,000 to $482,000. Then there are monthly fees on top of that. I couldn't find them on their website, but the other comparable place in town has a minimum $3000. single monthly fee, with an additional requirement of minimum dining on top of that ($250/mo).

The other one has more of an ownership option for your apartment or villa, with a guaranteed return of your entry fee, less a 5% marketing fee, updating/remodeling expenses, and some possible appreciation. Their minimum entry fee (buy in) is $133,600 and goes all the way up to $798,500 for a 2 bedroom 2210 sq ft villa with a garage. The single monthly fee, on top of the entry fee, is $3038. mo for a single all the way to $3995. for the most expensive villa. Add a second person and the monthly fee goes up about $1000. per month, regardless of the category of home.

These two places are the Cadillacs around here. There are lots of other independent or assisted living retirement communities that don't offer continuing care. It's a puzzle figuring them out, especially not knowing if you'll be physically challenged as you age, or have memory issues.

My 90 year old uncle moved to an assisted living facility in Pasadena about 12 years ago after my aunt died. He started out with a $4500/mo monthly fee, but when he started having falls, the facility required him to have an aide with him from 7 am to 7 pm daily. Very quickly his monthly fees went up to about $11,000./mo. My cousin ended up moving him out to live with him in Seattle. It was a real shame, because my uncle no longer had the supportive community of younger friends to come visit him, friends he'd had for many years.

My own plan--at 71--is to go feet first out of my little single level house I bought about 18 months ago. It's in a new development. My oldest son lives 10 minutes away and my youngest son lives 20 minutes away. Our family house burned down in 2007, and with all the subsequent moves/rebuilding/selling the rebuilt family house in 2018, I actually had to buy some furniture for this new house. So cleaning this place out when I go should be fairly easy for my sons. If they sell the house after I die, they will divide the equity (and I took out a 2.3% 15 year mortgage when I bought the house after putting 50% down, which either one of them is allowed to assume, should they wish to not sell), which means I won't have thrown $100's of thousands of dollars away on entry fees and monthly costs.

I'm happy where I am now, and basically healthy. I like living alone and I moved from a high rise apartment--which I loved--to a house because of COVID. I can't see giving this up to move to a retirement community. Most of my neighbors are 50ish or older, and it's a very sociable community because we all moved in right about the same time. If I wanted to interact more, I could, right where I am.

The two communities I mentioned are Carol Woods https://www.carolwoods.org/
and Carolina Meadows https://carolinameadows.org/about/