I am 63 years old and in good health. However, as I age, I realize that there will be circumstances where I will need care. My spouse is terminally ill. My house is paid off and I will have a comfortable amount of liquid revenue to support myself as long as I am healthy. I would like to find an independent living facility which would offer care should my health decline or I become too ill to take care of myself. Do you have any suggestions for a facility that offers independent living and elder care if it is needed? What is an average price for such a facility and where are they located in Chester or Lancaster County, Pennsylvania?
It's not pessimistic to think about your future, it's realistic! Knowing you will be alone soon, you NEED to be as prepared as possible. After dealing with your husband's terminal illness & everything that follows, you will need the peace of mind it will give you. But, I agree you should keep your paid for house.
It's great you're in good health & have some resources. If you have no family/heirs that you want to leave your paid for home to, you could get a reverse mortgage. This would give you additional income. Could you consider sharing your home with other women? Being in a very similar situation, I plan to stay in MY paid for home & (while I 'm still healthy), seek out & cultivate friendships with other women. Women in similar situations could be good housemates, sharing expenses, housework, etc.
If you have long term care insurance, they will assume the expense once you require the additional help of the assisted living.
So like Ferris says, stop expecting doom and gloom and live for a while! Once you hit 80 or 90, you can start to worry about what to do. Of course have your DPOAs all set up and your will, etc. But live! We only get one shot at this and sitting around waiting for our own infirmity isn't what we should be doing!
As for housing, I'm all for unloading the burden of the house. I realize some people are very invested emotionally in their house, but for me, I plan to downsize as early as possible once my kids are no longer needing the benefits of the family house.
For a younger person, a CCRC makes sense. You'll be there long enough to reap the benefits and you're young enough that you can buy in at the 'no refund' (much cheaper) rate. I'd put the rest of the money from the sale of my house into an annuity; one that's hard to get out of, so I'd have monthly income and I'd be protected from any bad decisions I could make in the future if my money were just sitting in a 401K for me to pillage at will.
If you don't mind moving (I hate it), you could first move to a 55+ community. However, shop around. You might find that some of the CCRC's are pretty youthful. Plus, let's face it, after age 60 or so, anything can happen and we can't count on bouncing back the way we once could. The ultimate insurance is living somewhere there is help always available.
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