retirement villages and unrealistic lifestyles

Lacie is 66, long divorced and a typical retired single empty-nester rattling around a suburban family home that is far too big and expensive for her to look after – most especially now that she’s developed some health problems, needs looking after herself and doesn’t want to be a burden on her children – but after researching what retirement villages can offer her in terms of independent living within a care-giving environment she is totally disillusioned and at a loss to know what direction to take with her life in terms of housing.

“The fundamental reason why retired people are drawn to retirement villages is a belief that we’re going to get taken care of, that these villages provide assisted care as we age, or when we need it, so we don’t have to suffer another major move as we would if we simply downsized from the big old family home to a smaller home, only to discover down the line that maintaining a smaller place is just as onerous and expensive.” says Lacie, “but it’s a totally misguided belief as retirement villages are in business to make money, not to care for aging people, and their business plans revolve around a quick turnover, sucking people in when they’re relatively healthy, offering them unrealistic lifestyles, and then turfing them out quick smart when their health fails, as it invariably does within a short period of time.”

“The type of retirement housing I’m looking for would allow me to live independently within a care-giving environment, providing assisted care whenever I needed it, for however long I needed it, but to obtain this sort of care-giving you either have to be filthy rich living in a private hotel type set-up, or you have to be totally incapacitated and assessed as such by a government department.”

“Apparently, all assisted care housing is government subsidized - even though it costs you heaps, too,” sighs Lacie. “Assisted care housing, no matter that you buy into it, is only allocated by government assessors to totally incapacitated cases, and even if the village has an assisted living complex within it you are not guaranteed a place in that particular assisted care complex just because you already live in the village (places are allocated according to need, waiting lists, etc).”

“The government objective is to get old people to pay for private services and care in their own homes – private residence of village unit – and this can be astronomically expensive for old people on a basic income. It’s called aging in place.”

“If the assessors deem that you are still capable of minimal self-care, they will keep you in your home or village self-care unit for as long as possible on package deals, even if you’re 100+ years old - which is all very well if you can afford to keep on paying for these services, subsidized or not, but depressingly sad if you can’t afford it,” says Lacie. “In this event, the government assessors put pressure on family members and even neighbors to help out, and this is the sort of situation an independent woman like me wants to avoid.”

“Also, the same sort of home helpers and carers you get at a retirement village are the same sort of people available to anyone living in a private residence who can afford it. There is no real bonus in moving to a non-profit retirement village run by a religious organization. They use the same agency for home helpers and carers, and it costs you just as much, if not more in a retirement village.”

“Also, in the event of being assessed for an assisted living unit you have to sell your self-care unit (at great loss) and buy an assisted living unit (at great expense). At this stage, the resident is totally incapacitated and her relatives are lumbered with the whole process (and it often involves finding a placement at another complex). So, all the oldies who move into a retirement village under their own steam, believing they are doing the right thing by their kids, are misguided.”

“Another costly and stressful sale, purchase and move is inevitable down the line,” explains Lacie. “Of course, if you’re still capable, you can be 100+ year old and still living in the old family home or a self-care village unit, whether or not you want to be. It is not your decision, it is the government assessors who decide for you.”

“Faced with this knowledge, anyone considering selling up and moving to a retirement village to receive a bit of care-giving is totally misguided,” says Lacie. “Any care you get in these villages is at a price, and is the same sort of care available in your own home should you need it and can afford it, and most villages operate only on short-term temporary care. If your care needs escalate, you are required to move out and find more appropriate accommodation.”

“I am not rich, and now that my health is deteriorating I am very upset to learn that I would be no better off in a retirement village than I would be staying where I am – and in most cases would be worse off,” sighs Lacie. “What on earth am I going to do? My children are in no position to care for me, and because I am not totally incapacitated I am ineligible for a place in an assisted care village.”

“I am caught between a rock and hard place and I am more or less stuck where I am,” explains Lacie. “Because I cannot afford to pay for help and carers the government assessors will pressure me to take out a reverse mortgage or sell equity in my home In order to pay for someone to do my shopping, cooking, cleaning, washing, gardening, nursing, etc.”

“That being the case, then why bother involving the government bullies for an assessment at all?

“If having sufficient money to pay for home help and care is what you need when your health is failing – and self-care retirement villages are not geared for this level of care and pressure you to move out when you reach this stage – then what’s the purpose of moving to a retirement village in the first place?”

“So, if they don’t provide care when you need it, what do retirement villages offer?” asks Lacie. “Financial security, companionship, freedom from home maintenance, security? What exactly is their attraction?”

“From what I’ve read, the risks far outweigh any imagined benefits,” confides Lacie. “Apart from ripping you off financially, you risk being mistreated by staff or residents, you risk losing your accommodation through mismanagement (some retirement villages have gone bankrupt, leaving residents homeless and destitute), you are heavily circumscribed by rules and regulations (no smoking, no pets, no outdoor washing, no visitors, etc), you are generally living in a place where death and infirmity are going on around you day after day, and because there are still 100+ year old residents in self-care villages – and the average age of residents is late 70s – anyone younger than 75 would be totally out of place and devoid of the companionship that he/she imagines might be available in a village.”

“Home maintenance covered? Sure, your weekly fees in a retirement village cover maintenance to the grounds and buildings of the village, but the maintenance of your own accommodation is your responsibility and you can either pay to get it done privately or pay for the village maintenance staff to do it. Window cleaning, painting, changing light bulbs, dripping taps, burnt out hot water system or stove – it’s still your responsibility, just like it is in a private residence.”

“No wonder so many oldies prefer to rot in abject poverty in their old family homes rather than move to a retirement village,” says Lacie. “Unless you can find a village better located to shops and transport and facilities than your old family home, there doesn’t seem to be much point to moving.”

“Another option which the government and age care organizations suggest is to have a live-in boarder/carer – which would be good in so far as being alone, taking medications, losing consciousness, falling down the steps and being found dead months later because nobody missed you – but this option also has its own scary drawbacks (such as the boarder/carer doubling your medication and pushing you down the stairs).”

“Because my place is two-story, with the bedrooms and bathroom upstairs - and steps are now a problem for me - I really do need to move and perhaps downsizing to a smaller one-level home is my best option – but the only places that fit that description are way out of town, much too far away from shops, transport and medical facilities, and they are not much cheaper than my present home meaning that I wouldn’t be much better off financially if I downsized - and maintaining a smaller place will eventually become just as onerous and expensive for me.”

“The only other option, one that I dislike intensely, is to move to an apartment,” says Lacie. “Even if I find a cheap ground-floor garden apartment, allowing me a little space outside to call my own, I will find it scary living in such close proximity to other people and being bound by the same sort of rules and regulations that govern retirement villages.”

“It’s ridiculous contemplating moving either to a retirement village or an independent apartment when neither option meet my needs or appeal to me,” explains Lacie. “I am very comfortable where I am now – I love my outside drying/airing space where all my bedding gets aired every day, I love my garden outside my front door, I love being able to do whatever I want to do in my own space, and I love living within walking distance to shops, public transport and medical facilities.”

“The only trouble where I am now is the steps up to the bathroom and my bedroom – and a very steep walk up the road to the shops.”

“I suppose I can take out a reverse mortgage or sell equity in my home In order to pay for modifications to my home as well as someone to do my shopping, cooking, cleaning, washing, gardening, nursing, etc.” muses Lacie, “and taking all things into consideration that seems like the only direction I can take, meeting all my needs without causing too much stress.”

“And, when my money runs out, as it will over the years, and my health deteriorates, I guess I’ll have to relinquish my independence and leave it to my children and the government assessors to decide what to do with me.”

“Becoming a burden on your kids is something we all wish to avoid, but realistically it is a fate we cannot avoid.”


"The fundamental reason why retired people are drawn to retirement villages is a belief that we’re going to get taken care of when we’re ill or injured and that these villages provide assistance for all of our daily tasks as we age, or when we need it, but it’s a totally misguided belief and she wants everyone contemplating moving to a retirement village to be aware of the facts - retirement villages don't do care!"

“Retirement villages are in business to make money, not to care for aging people,” says Lacie, “and their business plans are based upon a quick turnover of residents, sucking people in when they’re relatively healthy, offering them unrealistic lifestyles – like working out in the gym or diving into swimming pools – and then turfing them out quick smart when their health fails, as it invariably does within a short period of time because, let’s face it, the older you get the more your body deteriorates (and more so when you’re trying to live up to the unrealistic lifestyles imposed by the clever marketing managers of these villages).”

“You only have to look at the location and architecture of retirement villages to see that most of them are totally unsuitable for ageing people – steep sites, miles away from shops and facilities, first and second storey apartments without elevators and no safety features in bathrooms.”