Housing selection crucial for retirees - Your Life

Choosing a suitable place to live during retirement not only has important lifestyle and health ramifications, it can result in a significant financial cost at a time when people commonly assume that their housing expenses will be declining, points out the Financial Planning Association, Denver, Colo. Here are some of the housing options to consider, preferably well before you actually retire.

The majority of people remain in their own homes when they retire--at least until they may be forced to move to an assisted living facility or a nursing home due to declining health. Many retirees and near retirees should be thinking about modifying their current home to be "age friendly" as they grow older so they can stay longer, even as their health begins to fail. For example, if you decide to remodel your bathroom, consider installing a walk-in shower with a seat or room enough to roll in a wheelchair. Widen doorways, add handrails, put in a stairway chairlift, or move the master bedroom and laundry facilities to the main floor. Leave the upstairs bedrooms for the children and guests when they visit. Also factor in the likelihood that at some point, only one of you--typically the wife--will be living in the home.

Roughly one in five individuals move when they retire, and according to an Allstate and Harris Interactive "Retirement Reality Check" survey, four in 10 baby boomers plan to do the same. In many cases, retirees are downsizing but upgrading at the same time, which is one reason it pays to think about housing beforehand. You may want to set aside extra money to pay for improved housing as well as the cost of a move and related expenses, so you're not taking that money out of your nest egg once you retire.

Of course, if you move, you'll want to either build or buy a home that has numerous age-friendly features. Where you move will have a significant financial impact and should be thought out carefully. There are the usual retirement communities, but many people are choosing more independent locations such as college towns or even overseas.

If planning to move out of town, try to "test-run" the location you're thinking about. Rent for several months; experience different weather; check out the medical and long-term care facilities; sample the cost of permanent housing; ride the public transportation; and yes, explore job opportunities. Many retirees still work, at least part time. What are the cost of living and tax situation in that location versus where you live now? Is good in-home nursing care or other assistance available--something that might be less available in some popular "vacation" towns, for example, or a remote housing community?

Consider social issues, too. Will you be able to meet new friends? Are you going to be closer or farther away from your children? Will there be volunteer opportunities?

Those concerned, even at a relatively young retirement age, about declining health have more options than retirees once had. While still relatively healthy, you can move into a continuing care facility, for example, where you can begin by living independently in an apartment or condominium and move to assisted living or a nursing home at the same location if it becomes medically necessary. Continuing care, though, typically requires a substantial initial financial outlay, so take this into account as you plan for retirement. Experts foresee more senior housing, such as condominiums and cooperatives, that offer limited health services similar to assisted living facilities, which provide various levels of assistance for all but those requiring nursing home care.

Scout the locations of prospective senior housing. Experts say, for instance, that there's a shortage of assisted living facilities inside big cities--many of the new structures are going up in the suburbs. If you prefer to live closer to a city core where you have easier access to cultural entertainment and restaurants, you'll need to do some serious advance planning so you can find an opening when it occurs.

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