My parents lived in a CCRC for 10 years and I worked in one for 3 years. I really like the concept, I'll be moving into one in 20 years or so. My parents moved through all the levels of care while they were there, both died in the nursing home (as they should have). They loved it there, and the system worked very well. Does she (or her estate) get all her buy in money back when she leaves? That actually depends on the kind of license it has, the best ones do give it all back (no interest though). She's young enough to get a lot of use out of the place. I would assume for her $900/month she gets a meal a day in the dining room? Usually, at that low monthly rate, she'll pay for extra services as she need them, which I think is a good idea. Make sure she understands what they are. Those extra services might include cleaning service, home health aide assistance, rides off the campus to social events, doctors' appointments etc. She'll probably love it, and have to pencil you into her social calender, she'll just be so busy! Good luck.

Interesting question. If you mean to be wildlife friendly, as I imagine you do, you might have to ban pets even from private yards. That would kill the deal for me, but might be popular among bird watchers. I actually keep my cats a secret from my bird watching friends. I would want there to be a community owned tool shed and tools. Community owned bicycles might be a good idea and possibly even a truck. There would have to be community space, of course. It is essential, I think, to have community events and a neutral place for meetings when tempers flare. If you are living in a forest, I think that fire has to be a huge concern. I think you would have to have a clearing where the houses are located and require aluminum roofs or something equally resistant to fire. Fire retardant vegetation should be encouraged. Automatic sprinkler systems might be a good idea as well. There is a development near Sisters Oregon where homeowners are encouraged to clear the trees from the immediate area around their homes. For the most part, no one has gone along with this advice. It is a conflagration waiting to happen and fire services are not that close. I love a fireplace, but I think that should probably be avoided. I think that the ability to handle wood smoke decreases with age. With that in mind, the community might offer a generator(s) capable of at least leaving the lights on in case of power outages. Would you offer any impediments to intruders? Probably not feasible for your purposes. I would be looking for environmentally friendly power sources. If there is a lot of tree cover then solar energy may not be possible Storage might be located separately. Most of the cottage developments near me, have storage and garages separate from the houses. If not, I would have an alley run down the back of the homes for access to rear facing garages. The front of the cottages should offer big front porches to stimulate conversations between neighbors. Again, following the templates I have seen, the front of the homes would be spaced more closely together than where a street separates them. There is often a linear garden that runs down the middle instead. These cottage developments are bringing huge prices here. People are paying as much for a 1000 sq. ft. unit as a 2500 sq ft. unit in a more usual development. One of the big attractions is keeping the homes to just a small part of the acreage to maximize the area available for environmentally sound management of the remaining natural area. Most important is to have good legal advice going in plus well thought out rules. I normally hate developments that have a 5 inch thick rule book, but it is better than making it up as you go along. You need to have a process in place to change the rules also. This would be a HUGE step for you. You want lots of feedback, lots of legal advice, lots of communication with people who are already trying this.

The West usually gets a pass on such articles because of the high cost of living here. No getting around that. Even the retirement communities cost quite a bit here, due to the high cost of land. Still, it's a great area to live in - we're in the SF Bay Area - and retire in provided you've planned carefully and had a bit of luck. Year-round great weather, diverse cultures and interesting people, fabulous access to outlying areas of interest with enough variety to appeal to almost anyone. But....it takes an above-average income to live here. All that diversity and sophistication comes at a price. OTOH, we have easy transit access, so although we still drive there are many times it's easier to take public transit. And everything is nearby - hospital emergency, museums, state parks for hiking, all the everyday services as well as a wide choice of leisure activities. But you also need to factor in how much living in a more remote area can cost you. Fuel, food, time spent driving to the airport or to see friends/family - all cost you more the further you live from a major city. This is not inconsiderable, especially as one ages and driving becomes more difficult, even impossible under certain conditions. I think the older you get, the more important it is to be around people, rather than isolating oneself.

Hi cheery one, I'm pleased that you're happy with the "pro"s of your retirement. And somewhat sad that you're feeling that you're not keeping up to the mark of what you'd hoped/planned to do. If you feel the need to beat yourself over the back about that - make sure it's with a wet noodle ... and only five strokes, O.K? As for the "average" retiree, I don't feel that I have too much of a handle on that ... and wonder what level of expertise you may claim in that department? I think that it's important to do things that we can be pleased with ourselves for having done, at the end of the day ... week ... month ... year. Something that I note to have been scarcely mentioned in this thread so far is the need that all of us retirees have to concern ourselves about (as well as people in the workforce) is the erosion of the value of our income (and, for us retirees, our assets) due to inflation, every year for about the last 80. There hasn't been much increase in incomes in recent years, except for the wealthy few ... but the prices keep going up ... and for most of us, those prices of much of the goods and services that we buy have been and are going up faster than the official rate of inflation. When we put money in the bank, or buy bonds, etc. which pay us the same number of dollars after several years that we gave them in the first place, apart from the "rent" on the money, it isn't only taxes and living expenses that much come out of the earnings ("rent on the money"), but an allowance for inflation, as well, in order to keep the purchasing power of those assets equal in ten years to what it is now. Good wishes to you for dealing well with the days ahead: may they be as many as please you, with good health, friends, enough bucks to meet your needs, things to do and a few challenges, here and there. ole joyfuelled