Thursday, April 10, 2014

Are You A Retirement Planner, Procrastinator or Crasher?

When researching Continuing Care Retirement Communiites recently, I came across an interesting quote by an industry expert.  He said that most people fall into one of three groups when it comes to moving into a CCRC ... they are planners, procrastinors or crashers.

For those of you who are regular readers of this blog, I assume that most of you fall into the role of planners.  You are already thinking about your options for the near-term, as well as for the more distant future when you may need more services. 

What is the difference between the three groups?

Continuous Care Planners

These people are in acceptance of the fact that they will probably need help or extended care at some point in the future.  They also do not want to be a burden on their adult children or other members of their family.  They want to have fun and enjoy life as long as they can, while feeling comfortable that they have taken steps early to assure that they will be taken care of when the time comes and they need more help.  These are the people who explore their options early, decide where they would like to live when they are ready, and let other family members know about their decision.

Continuous Care Procrastinators

Procrastinators are similar to planners except they postpone investigating continuing care facilities as long as they possibly can.  Sometimes they later regret their procrastination, later admitting they wish they had made the decision and moved sooner.  They just didn't realize how much more fun they could have been having by moving to a community where they no longer had to worry about meal preparation, cleaning and similar day-to-day chores.

Continuing Care Crashers

These are the people who do not believe that they will ever need help.  Sometimes you may hear them say things like, "I don't expect to live that long," or "With a heart like mine, I'll probably die suddenly," or "I eat right and take care of myself so I don't think I will ever need someone to help care for me."  No matter which opinion they hold, there is a good chance that they will be wrong.  With today's modern healthcare advances, people often do end up living longer than they expect and discover that they do need assistance later in life, whether they ever thought that would happen or not.  What frequently happens with this group is that they go directly from independent living in their own home directly into a skilled nursing facility, skipping the transition period of living independently in a continuing care community.

Which Is the Right Choice for You?

There is nothing wrong with falling into any of these categories.  Of course, the managers of Continuing Care Retirement Communities would prefer that people move into their facilities when they are in their late sixties or early seventies.  However, for people who are still working or active, this may not be the right decision.  Becoming a procrastinator may be the right decision for a large percentage of people.  I know my husband, who still works, enjoys our traditional over-55 community that does not provide continuing care.  I don't think he would be happy living in a CCRC where no one else had a job.

In fact, there is a good chance that many people, like my husband, would be perfectly happy to be labeled as "Crashers."  He plans to continue to work for several more years and has no intention of moving out of our current community until he is ready for a nursing home.  Circumstances may change as we get older, but that is how he feels at the moment.

On the other hand, if I were a widow in my seventies, I would probably be perfectly happy in one of the Continuing Care Retirement Communities in our area (and there are a number of lovely ones.)  I know that I do not always prepare healthy meals for myself when I am home alone and it would be nice not to have to worry about it.  I also enjoy being around other people and would love to be in a social community where my meals are prepared and there are planned trips, outings and parties I could enjoy, as long as I also had my own, private apartment or cottage.

This is a decision that each of us has to make on our own.  The important issue is not which category you fall into.  What is important is that you make the decision consciously.  Personally I've always believed that the best inheritance we can give our children is the knowledge that they will not have to spend their senior years taking care of us when we are sick and fragile.  I am investigating various CCRC's because I want to know that regardless of the type of illness or dementia that may befall me, my children will not have to feed and care for me 24 hours a day in my later years. 

If you are interested in learning more about Continuing Care Retirement Communities, you may be interested in reading this article that I wrote last week:

Choosing a Continuing Care Retirement Community

In addition, be sure to check out the tabs at the top of this page to read more about where to retire, family relationships, medical issues and financial planning, including topics like long-term care insurance and its alternatives.

You are reading from the blog:  http://www.baby-boomer-retirement.com

Photo credit:  www.morguefile.com



3 comments:

  1. These are interesting distinctions. Nice article!

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  2. WORKS THAT SAVE AND WORKS THAT DON'T
    THE WORK THAT SAVES

    What work endures to eternal life.

    John 6:27-29 Do not work for the food perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, for on Him the the Father, God has set His seal." 28 Therefore they said to Him, "What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?" 29 Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He as sent."

    The work that men do to be saved is believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and their Lord and Savior and that God raised Him from the dead. Yes, there is a work that men do, that can save them. Believing is the work men that do that saves.

    THERE IS A WORK THAT GOD DOES, THAT SAVES.

    Colossians 2:12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in whichyou were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

    God does the work in water baptism. Not men.
    You cannot separate faith and water baptism.
    Mark 16:16 He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved....

    1 Peter 20-21 ...safely through the water. 21 Corresponding to thatbaptism now saves you ---not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience--- through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

    You cannot separate faith and water baptism. Man's work is to believe. God's work is to forgive men of their sins.

    Colossians 2:12-13.......When you dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,

    You cannot separate faith and water baptism.

    WORKS THAT DO NOT SAVE.

    Galatians 2:11-16....16 nevertheless know that a man is not justified by works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ Jesus and not by works of the Law; since by works of the Law no flesh will be justified.

    The apostle Paul was not telling Cephas (Peter) and Barnabas,
    that believing in Jesus was a work of the Law Moses,
    that being baptized in water for the forgiveness of sins was a work of the Law of Moses,
    that repenting (turning from unbelief and making a commitment to turn from from a sinful lifestyle and turning toward God) was a work of the Law of Moses,
    that confessing that Jesus was the Son of God, their Lord and Savior and believing that God raised Jesus from the dead, was a work of the Law of Moses.

    FAITH-REPENTANCE-CONFESSION and WATER BAPTISM are not works of the Law of Moses.

    Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been savedthrough faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.
    Colossians 2:12 ....baptism...through faith in the working of God...
    Ephesians 2:9-10 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in the.

    Believing in Jesus is not a good work.
    Repenting is not a good work.
    Confessing is not a good work.
    Being baptized in water is not a good work.

    Believing (John 3:16) Repenting (Acts 2:38) Confessing (Romans 10:9-10) and Water Baptism (Mark 16:16) are all essential for salvation, however NONE of them are Laws of Moses nor are they good works.


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    ReplyDelete
  3. Interesting and unique descriptions about boomers moving into a long-term care facility, I have shared this article at http://boomerwatch.blogspot.com/2015/01/boomer-options-for-long-term-care-which.html, hope you didn't mind it :)

    ReplyDelete

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