Top 10 Reasons to Live In a Retirement Community

Isn’t retirement great?

You have total freedom, are spending tons of time with friends, and have been checking off that bucket list like nobody’s business. Or have you? If you are like many seniors, your retirement might not be as fulfilling as you once imagined.

Learn how a vibrant retirement community can liven up your lifestyle and help you enjoy the retirement of your dreams.

1. Low Maintenance Living

Even in retirement, the never-ending battle against laundry, grocery shopping, bills, and that lawn (that seems to grow twice as fast each year) gets more difficult. Your household responsibilities can get in the way of your bigger goals, like long-term travel or spontaneous road trips.

Choosing to move into a retirement community can provide the low-maintenance, worry-free lifestyle of your dreams.

2. Consolidation of Expenses

Another thing you didn’t lose with retirement? That tidy stack of bills in your mailbox every month.

Do you really know how much your current lifestyle is costing you? Between home repairs, property taxes, and home insurance, it can be a good financial exercise to compare the cost of a retirement community to your current cost of living.

Retirement communities can actually help you consolidate your expenses by combining rent, food, utilities, and entertainment all in one monthly lease.

3. Upscale Living

Do you own a pool? How about a poker table, or a putting green?

Living in a community tailored to creating the good life has its advantages. Many retirement communities have upscale amenities you would never dream of owning in your own home.

• Indoor and outdoor swimming pools
• Putting greens
• Jacuzzis, spas, and massage rooms
• Fireside patios and kitchens
• Tennis courts
• Theater rooms
• Poker tables
• Billiards and darts
• Walking paths
• Exercise equipment
• Business centers

4. A Vibrant Social Life

It’s always a challenge to make new friends, but it can become increasingly tricky in retirement. If you’re finding your schedule a little empty, but want an engaging social life, a retirement community may be the perfect fit.

• Happy hours and morning brunches
• Sports lounges with national games
• Religious study groups
• Fitness clubs
• Book clubs
• Cards and Mahjong clubs
• Coffee meetups
• Community advisory boards
• Local volunteer groups

5. Keeping in Shape

Staying active as you age can help you maintain your independence longer and prevent falls or injury. If self-motivation is an issue, the fitness classes and outdoor activities offered in many retirement communities may appeal to you.

• Yoga classes
• Swimming and water aerobics
• Walking clubs
• Class-based fitness
• Gyms and free weights
• Golf outings
• Local hikes and greenbelts

 

 

6. Eating Well

Sometimes it’s hard to go to the trouble of cooking a nutritious meal. It’s tempting, as one blogger put it, to “Bread. Wine. Cheese. Repeat.” Choosing a retirement community can help you opt back into daily meals that nourish the body and satisfy the soul.

7. Learning, Growing, and Traveling

Aging doesn’t put a stop for the need to grow and explore the world around us. Retirement communities can make it easier to get out and discover exciting new experiences through planned excursions and travel.

• Museums, art, and theater excursions
• Shopping trips
• National and international travel
• College courses
• On-site gardening programs

8. Personal Care Services

As we age, there are daily tasks that just aren’t as easy as they once were. It’s not embarrassing or something to fear, it’s just the facts.

Whether you need help with housekeeping or personal hygiene now, or are cognizant that one day you might, retirement communities offer the opportunity to know when that transition happens, you will be in good hands.

9. Safety and Security

You may not need any help with your daily personal care, but that doesn’t mean that accidents don’t happen.

Household accidents and falls do occur, and if you live alone, the thought of not receiving the help you need can be daunting. In a retirement community, you can be sure there is always someone there to help!

10. Transportation

Between bumper-to-bumper traffic, new roads, and “that one guy” who is always in a hurry, driving can start to feel like a chore.

Retirement communities offer transportation to their residents to help them stay active in their local communities and beyond. You don’t necessarily have to give up your keys altogether, cruise around when you feel like it, and other times let someone else worry about the new roundabout.