It’s commonly thought that aging in place is cheaper for seniors than moving to a retirement home, assisted living, or community-based setting. This could be true or not.
The important thing to know is that there are costs and expenses involved in aging in place, and most are hidden and unexpected.
Knowing these costs and expenses can give you or your loved ones an insight on whether to decide on a retirement home or age in place.
Read along to learn more about the expenses and hidden costs associated with lagging in place and tips to save on them.
What Is Aging In Place?
In general, aging in place means choosing to continue living in your home instead of moving into an assisted living environment such as a retirement home, nursing home, or with family members.
According to the CDC, this involves the ability of seniors to live independently, safely, and comfortably in their own homes and community regardless of income, age, or ability level, but in most cases, aging in place is associated with older citizens.
Nearly 90% of senior citizens over 65 years old say they want to continue living in their homes independently as they get older and not in retirement or nursing homes.
The reasons for seniors wanting to age in place vary from one person to another.
Some of them may include:
- Comfort in living in a familiar place in a familiar neighborhood
- Living close to friends and family
- Strong memories
- A hesitation to downsize
- Continued involvement with community and social groups like church, neighborhood
- Myths surrounding retirement communities, such as fear of losing independence, the belief of retirement homes being expensive, or belief of adequate care in retirement homes
It’s easy for healthy older seniors to age in place, but it can be challenging when and if their health starts failing, and they may need additional care.
Alternatively, you can get the support and healthcare you need, meals prepared, all repairs and maintenance covered, and a vibrant community in a retirement home like Husky Senior Care, but is it what you’re looking for?
The debate between aging in place and living in retirement homes or communities doesn’t seem to end soon. Below, we look at the expenses of aging in place, including hidden costs.
Expenses Of Aging In Place
Choosing to age in place comes with various expenses besides normal living expenses. These additional expenses can increase for individuals who live with health conditions.
When seniors age in place, the expenses to consider may include:
Housing Expenses
Aging in place comes with expenses like mortgage payments. If you’re living in a home where you haven’t paid off the mortgage, you will continue with your payments during retirement.
You’ll also continue with house maintenance expenses such as repairs, housekeeping, lawn maintenance, and outdoor maintenance in your home.
As you age, these activities become difficult to carry out without assistance, and you may need to hire someone, which can be expensive.
Home Remodeling Expenses
In many cases, people who choose to age in place need to conduct age-related renovations, also called universal design.
Universal design is a concept or architectural design that involves the design and mostly remodeling of residences to make them more convenient, comfortable, and safer to use, especially for the elderly.
Examples of universal designs are handrails, ramps, first-floor bedrooms, wider doors, non-slip flooring, and showers.
Public spaces, residences, and elderly communities already have universal designs incorporated into their facilities, but these renovations are usually costly, especially for those living with conditions.
Caregiving Costs
Home health care costs may increase as you age. In the early retirement years, seniors may not need much help in their day-to-day tasks.
Between 50% and 70% of older adults may need certain assistance after they pass the age of 65. These elders need caregivers to do meal preparation, house cleaning, washing clothes, or shopping for groceries.
Since elders have different needs, they determine the number of hours a caregiver will support. For example, if a caregiver works six hours a day, the U.S. national average cost stands at $3,800 per month.
This is a little compared to the average cost of living in a retirement community that stands at $3,700.
Care needs will increase both rates, but looking into other factors like home and loan maintenance and house expenses, finding superior senior care in Seattle might be cheaper.
Medical Care
Aging in place might require you to hire a home health aide at some point. These skilled family care nurses can come to your home to give you medications, therapies, or other health services.
If you have a condition, you may make arrangements for a healthcare professional to come to your home every day, once a week, or on-call, which can be expensive.
When living in assisted care, nurses are around to support and take care of the elderly.
Although they come at a cost, the particular arrangements that you may need while aging in place are non-existent and provided by most Washington State senior care professionals.
Social Engagements And Activities
Going to your local church, meeting up with friends, running in your neighborhood, and being connected to networks will fulfill your social needs as you age in place.
These activities can be expensive if you live in a high-end area, especially gyms and book clubs.
You can also undertake them when living in elderly communities, at lower prices or even for free.
Hidden Costs Of Aging In Place
Many seniors who choose age in place face some hidden costs and responsibilities they don’t know about and can avoid if they choose to live in communities.
Some of the hidden costs are:
Lost Productivity Of Family Caregivers
Some children opt to take their parents in, which comes with unexpected family caregiver stress, both financially and mostly emotionally and physically.
They take their time away from work or careers to take care of their parents, which can affect their finances and work productivity, especially if the elder is troublesome to live with.
As per the Family Caregiver Alliance, one-quarter of women providing care for their loved ones end up developing health conditions related to their activities.
Transportation Challenges
When you can no longer drive yourself, getting around can be challenging. The inability to get around will come with feelings of isolation, leading to depression.
You’ll need to get someone to drive you or depend on your family caregiver since public transportation can also be challenging.
Many assisted living communities and healthcare networks offer free ride programs to enable the elderly to move around and get to their appointments.
If you calculate the cost comparisons, living in elderly communities can have an advantage in transportation.
Increasing House Expenses
After retirement, you’ll spend most of your time indoors unless you find an engagement outdoors. Your house expenses like air conditioning and heating can increase.
Your costs of TV, internet, meals, and other house expenses can follow suit. You don’t realize these costs because they’re minimal, but they add up to the overall cost of aging in place.
Tips To Save While Aging In Place
The only tips for helping you live happily when aging in place involve early planning like modifying your home early, buying your home cash, paying your mortgage, or life insurance saving.
If you didn’t do the early planning, there are some things you can do to reduce your costs when aging in place:
Make Use Of Government Facilities
Both state and federal Governments help older persons who want to maintain or modify their homes without exhausting their savings.
A low-income individual in rural areas can use the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Repair and Rehabilitation Grants for remodeling projects such as wheelchair ramps, bathroom remodeling, installing walk-in tubs, or widening doorways.
Choose A Home With Access To A Senior Village
Across the U.S., there are many networks of senior “villages” for the elderly who want to live close to each other within communities.
These villages provide avenues for cost-sharing when employees share housekeeping, grocery, transportation, and medical care costs.
Consider Home Sharing
You can consider renting a room within your house to someone else, such as a young adult recently employed, who will help you by splitting the utility bills.
The tenant (renter) can also help with chores around the house and outside maintenance and provide social interaction.
Importantly the tenant can call for help if you may need an emergency. These arrangements help improve the livelihoods of many older adults aging in place and reduce expenses.
EndNote
Even if aging in place is proper for you, it’s always right to research all of the options before making a decision. You might find out some new information you never knew that could help you make your final decision.
In general, aging in place always needs early planning to make it a practical and affordable option.
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