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Such as size of property, size of home, lack of accessibility features, distance from stores and doctors, etc.
Will any of these challenges make you decide to move, or are you hanging on till you go into assisted living? What will you do to accommodate your challenges over the next ten years? (I'm looking for ideas.)
We have already added safety measures to our bathrooms. I am thinking of a huge deck in back that connects to a little elevation in our yard then maybe a brick walkway to a new garage inside our fence for protection. We have steps in front. I don't like calling attention to a handicap ramp by adding that in front. Front deck with a concealed walkway to front door is a possibility. Both would be good so we can sit out front and see our neighbors go by in the evening.
We will need a yardman in a few years. I am planting trees so part of our yard will be woods with leaf ground cover.
Our county has senior transportation at little to no charge. It goes to the next county for medical care.
We have a grocery store a short distance away that lets you shop online. I would look for a teen or a neighbor that goes by it to pick up our selection and maybe pay with credit card or arrange a pick up with a cab company.
I have no challenges, yet, to aging in place, but then at 71 it would be highly unusual to have "challenges" already. I am glad I have stairs in my place which I climb a dozen or two or three dozen times a day, because that way I am always used to doing that. Our bodies adapt to what we accustom them to doing, and when we stop doing a particular thing our bodies (over time) will not be able to do that any more. Let's take jogging, for example. If we decide to quit jogging, after five or so years we won't be able to jog any more. But if we keep doing it, we will more or less always be able to do it. Not always in an absolute sense, of course, but in practical terms.
Why would I plan for something which may not ever happen and if it did happen, would be the most horrible, unthinkable thing ever. If I could no longer climb a flight of stairs, I would not want to continue living. That would be the signal that quality of life is a thing of the past and it's time to check out.
I think the key is to identify the problems that you may face in a few years and make a decision in advance if you should move or you can adapt to the problems. Don't wait until you have the actual problem.
How would you know in advance what kind of problem you might have? Or just the obvious ones?
I think my house will be too big for one person. But it's close and very convenient to everything mentioned in the OP post. But I'm waiting for self-driving car. If not the city has small bus to come pick people up for doctors and shopping. I only have to pay $5 a trip. I plant to put a small ramp from the garage for accessibility using wheel chair. Another thing is laundry upstairs, so I might hire people to do laundry or move them in the garage.
You mean move the hired help into the garage? did you convert it to any apartment?
We have a huge, well built attached garage. I've thought of creating a studio apt in there, if the local ordinance would allow. Up zooms the property tax though.
Riverbird, I think the assumption that "going into assisted living" will be the path for most people is not accurate.
Only a limited few can afford the very expensive assisted living. Even the bare bones assisted living places are still very pricey.
A few days ago you spoke about assuming many or most people will eventually go into a nursing home. That is not accurate either. Very few people end up in a nursing home.
I said "assisted living" as a catch-all, as the final step after renting or owning a home. Many seniors live in their own homes till the end, and that is what I would hope for. Anyway, by the time I'm old enough for asst living, it will be even less affordable than it is now. FWIW, five of seven of the elders in our family lived out their days in "nursing" homes. The holdouts were my mother and my MIL. My MIL planned ahead in terms of finding a place to address aging challenges; my mother did not, and it fell to her kids to meet those unmet challenges.
I don't anticipate any. I am already living in an income-based senior apartment with an elevator. There are stairs, too, but when bringing in groceries or taking a bag or two of garbage/recyclables downstairs, I take the elevator. I don't think about assisted living or nursing homes. I have an attitude the I "have" to be good until the "end." I don't have anyone I can depend on and don't really want one (at least for now).
The only thing I'm giving thought to is winter driving. I have always been pretty good in snow and ice, but ice is pretty unforgiving, no second chances with it. I'm glad for the ABS brakes on my car. If I could afford it, I would put snow tires on but don't have anyplace to store the extra tires.
I try to stay positive in my thinking, don't look "too far down the road", guess I'll deal with any problem as it comes up. There is a place very close to me call PACE which does provide nurses, and if I needed help with something involving a nurse, I would probably call them.
We have already added safety measures to our bathrooms. I am thinking of a huge deck in back that connects to a little elevation in our yard then maybe a brick walkway to a new garage inside our fence for protection. We have steps in front. I don't like calling attention to a handicap ramp by adding that in front. Front deck with a concealed walkway to front door is a possibility. Both would be good so we can sit out front and see our neighbors go by in the evening.
Where would the ramp go? I'd love to see a rendition of that plan. Would you have to widen your front door?
According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, slightly over 5 percent of the 65+ population occupy nursing homes, congregate care, assisted living, and board-and-care homes, and about 4.2 percent are in nursing homes at any given time. The rate of nursing home use increases with age from 1.4 percent of the young-old to 24.5 percent of the oldest-old. Almost 50 percent of those 95 and older live in nursing homes.
back to topic of challenges of aging in place.....
i can probably stay where I am for the foreseeable future, perhaps forever, if I choose to do so. I have a townhouse with a small yard, affordable to maintain and I have someone who does grass in summer and snow in winter, if needed. both are rather reasonably priced. I do have stairs, which are a plus, I think, now. it does provide me with exercise, which i'm not good about doing regularly. I have an extra room-small den- on first floor , which could be used as a bedroom, and a powder room next to it.i could add a shower if first floor became permanent.
i'm close to town with stores, bank, groceries ,but a couple of groceries deliver. one very big plus here is excellent medical care and a variety of medical resources fairly close. there are a few life long learning programs nearby and that is also important for me. i'm near urban areas but not in them, and safety, at least for now, is another plus.
the significant other is close and that remains the primary reason for staying, although, as the town has grown and changed in the years since I've been here, not the only reason. we are family for each other and I would not want either of us to be alone, as we grow older.
I had thought abut a ccrc, and may still do that before i'm 80 ( i'm 72 ), if health holds out; there is one about 20 minutes from me. however, in recent years, I've thought more about remaining where I am , and adding in-home help as needed and assisted living, as a last resort. I have LTC insurance which would pay a large portion of cost for either, but I will have to see how things look as I approach later seventies. I think I would be more inclined to go the ccrc route, if the S.O. predeceased me.
The only thing I'm giving thought to is winter driving. I have always been pretty good in snow and ice, but ice is pretty unforgiving, no second chances with it. I'm glad for the ABS brakes on my car. If I could afford it, I would put snow tires on but don't have anyplace to store the extra tires.
One of the nice things about being retired is not having to go driving when it snows. Just stock up with lots of good food and snacks before a storm, have a few indoor projects going, and maybe go for a walk in the snow.
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