Finance & Planning | Community Experience
When John Walker retired, he wasn’t sure what the future would hold. He knew he wanted to continue to officiate high school football and softball games. He knew he wanted to play golf on occasion. Beyond that, retirement was a bit of a mystery. The thought of residing in a senior living community held absolutely no appeal.
“I thought these types of places, you just go there and just sit around and every once in a while go eat with people,” he says.
However, John's wife was disabled and he realized that a life plan community might be the best option for them. Reluctantly, they moved into a cottage at Presbyterian Senior Living’s Quincy Village. To his surprise, what he found wasn’t just a place to live. He found a lively community that turned retirement into an exciting new chapter that offered connection and purpose.
A changing perspective on retirement
Doug Wise, Corporate Director of Referral Development at PSL, understands how retirement trends have shifted in recent decades. Before joining PSL six years ago, he owned an in-home care company. He has seen the age-in-place and the senior living community sides of retirement.
According to Doug, no matter where you choose to spend your post-working years, retirement has shifted. It's moved from being a period of winding down to a time of exploring new opportunities.
“It’s gone from ‘this is where I’m going to end my life’ to ‘this is where life starts,’” Doug says. “This new chapter includes people around me with the same interests who have been through the same seasons of life.”
Four steps to planning your retirement
Planning for your retirement years can seem overwhelming. Breaking the process into manageable steps can help create a roadmap for your future.
Picture your retirement goals
Begin by asking yourself what you want out of retirement. Is it fun and leisure? Is it traveling or pursuing hobbies? Is it social connection? Are you looking for opportunities to meet people and enjoy group activities? How about health and wellness? Is staying active and maintaining your health a priority?
Write down your goals and start picturing what living to achieve them could look like.
Make a financial plan for retirement
A solid financial outline is crucial to making your ideal retirement a reality. Create a budget that accounts for your retirement goals. Include living expenses, travel, and leisure activities. This is a good time to explore residential options such as life plan communities, also known as continuing care retirement communities. These communities offer a range of care levels and financial predictability versus aging in place.
Compare maintaining your home to moving to a community where that is unnecessary. For John, who had taken great pride in his lawn, mowing the grass was one of his favorite pastimes. Giving it up in exchange for playing golf, bowling, fishing, or playing poker with friends who were readily available to do so was a positive trade-off. Plus, if he ever needed to scratch that itch, he could volunteer to mow at a local campground.
Decide where to live
Where you live can significantly impact your quality of life. While staying at home might seem appealing, the costs of in-home care and home maintenance can add up, and care staffing can be challenging. Senior living settings provide a sense of community, diverse activities, and the convenience of consolidated services.
Doug notes many retirees he talks to are eager to give up the responsibility and cost of maintaining a house.
“They are ready to be done with the household work. They don’t want to shovel snow. They can enjoy their grandkids more because they don’t have to worry about things,” he says.
Many senior communities also offer fitness programs to help residents stay active. This can include classes focusing on balance, strength training, and water aerobics. Social programs such as happy hours, men’s groups, and craft clubs help like-minded residents. There are also pet-friendly spaces such as dog parks for pet lovers to connect
Plan for the future
Doug urges individuals to consider long-term care plans to deal with any health developments. Many life plan communities include top-notch health care and rehabilitation services.
Deciding how to spend retirement is a big decision. Exploring possibilities early is a good idea. Doug encourages anyone nearing retirement age to tour a few senior living communities. It helps get to know the residents and learn the reasons for their decisions.
“It’s never too early to start looking for options. It might not be perfect for you right now, but I’ve never moved anyone who said, ‘I should have waited two more years,’” Doug says. “It’s better to be two years too early than two days too late.”
For John, the decision to move to a life plan community continues to shape this next chapter of his life. Whether he’s spending his days fishing or golfing with the guys or umpiring a local softball game, he has found a community where he can keep growing and where he knows he and his wife will have the care they need.
“This place is not just a campus,” he says. “It’s the residents that make this place what it is. I feel like I’ve got a newfound family.”
