There is a glorious sunset beyond the mountains. The golden rays are caressing the face and there is a smile playing on the gentlemans lips. The person in question is having a nice, tall glass in hand which looks like a Pina colada. He is reclining in a comfortable chair and is the picture of a person without a care in the world.
Welcome to assisted living!
Retirement, pension policies, retirement homes etc. are sold with brochures which have very happy people doing their thing. It is like facebook, almost! The persona there is what one want others to believe!
Be that as it may, let us see whether retirement homes are something one could consider, what are the merits and downers, their cost etc.
Second innings is long, very long! It is a fact that most people today, especially among the middle classes and upwards, will be living into their eighties and maybe into the nineties too. That will be a pretty long period after one stops working.
During this period, it may be difficult to manage ones own home, may feel lonely most times as children would come to visit once in a while only, have problems paying bills and attending to home repairs maintenance etc.
If you feel you did not sign up for this in retirement, there is a way out Retirement homes or assisted living as it is stylishly marketed.
What is a Retirement home and what are its positives?
A Retirement home is a place which has facilities for Senior citizens to live and the facility is maintained by the property developer or another agency.
The facilities include
We have seen what could be the facilities in an assisted living centre and the advantages thereof. However, there could be downsides to it too.
It is going to be a personal call as there are enough positives and negatives. One will have to evaluate whether such an assisted living centre is suitable or not.
Financing One will normally have to buy the homes/ units here and pay a charge every month for maintenance, food and beverages etc. There are also schemes for paying 50-60% as refundable interest free deposit upfront and pay usage charges as one goes along. In many places, one can also rent out or lease the unit too and not necessarily buy them.
A felt need Such centres are coming up rapidly across the country as many Seniors have children staying abroad and they live all by themselves.
There are supposedly over a 100 millions seniors in India in 2020 itself. Many do not want to stay with their children. Today many children are abroad and the seniors are not too comfortable there as they get stranded when their children go off for work and are dependent on them to go out.
Even within India, many choose to stay by themselves, to preserve their independence, stay in the place they are used to along with their friends, doing their thing. However, at a certain age, maintaining a home gets difficult and managing all the work and household chores becomes more than they can handle.
That is where an assisted living facility fits in. It is a secure environment that ensures a serene and safe environment for elders to live without a care. Many children are comfortable if their parents stay in assisted living places as they would be sure that their needs are well taken care of.
Geriatric care is already gaining traction around the world. As the elderly population moves up,
more and more such facilities can be expected to spring up to cater to different strata of the elderly.
One needs to pause and reflect about this. Assisted living will suit some temperaments, not all. Also, assisted living in the current form is suitable for the relatively well-off people only. But, considering the various benefits it confers, it is worth considering.
You may go through this blog https://www.edenseniors.com/blogs/ ( some are promotional in nature; but then it also is informative which is why I have included it here )
To give you a feel of what kind of facilities are available, Im enclosing some links to some such centres, for you to go through
Gagan Nulife Kamshet, near Lonavla, 90 kms from Mumbai https://rb.gy/gqmuze
Aishwarya Senior living homes Coimbatore https://rb.gy/4ve0dq
Ashiana Senior Living Multiple locations- https://www.ashianahousing.com/senior-living-india
Eden Senior Living Dehradun Uttarakhand https://www.edenseniors.com/about-us/
Athulya Living Chennai http://www.athulyaliving.com/old-age-homes.php#home
I have covered a lot of topics including Retirement Planning in my book If God was your Financial Planner. But assisted living is one topic I have not covered there. I do realize now that it is a conspicuous miss.
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