Everything You Need to Know About Retirement Community Entrance Fees
A continuing care retirement community (CCRC) provides its residents with multiple levels of care — making it a worthwhile investment in the long run. However, in order to gain access to these luxurious amenities and state-of-the-art services, you’ll need to pay a one-time entrance fee upfront.
If you or a loved one are considering moving to a retirement community, it is essential to understand the costs involved. Let’s take a closer look at everything you need to know about retirement community entrance fees, including what they are, what’s included, the benefits you can expect, and more.
What Are Retirement Community Entrance Fees?
An entrance fee is a sum of money that’s required to reserve your spot at a continuing care retirement community, otherwise known as a life plan community. These communities typically have two types of upfront fees: refundable and non-refundable. Refundable entrance fees are somewhat steeper in price; however, a portion of what you or a loved one pays will be reimbursed later. Although non-refundable entrance fees tend to be lower in cost, they are not returned to the senior resident or their family once they leave the community.
What Does My Entrance Fee Cover?
Paying this fee upfront reserves your chosen residence and funds the community’s care continuum, as well as any long-term capital improvements. Your entrance fee grants you lifetime access to your residence, as well as the property’s top-tier amenities and best-in-class services. Once you move in, you will also be responsible for paying monthly fees, which will cover daily operations such as maintenance, housekeeping, meals, activities, transportation, and so on.
While both of these fees may seem intimidating, it is important to remember everything that you will be getting for the price. By retiring at a continuing care retirement community, your home maintenance, living expenses, and healthcare needs will be accounted for — giving you more freedom and independence to live your post-retirement life to the fullest.
Top 3 Benefits of Retirement Community Entrance Fees
Continue reading to discover the benefits of retirement community entrance fees and how they enhance the lives of residents, as well as their communities.
1. They Provide a Sense of Stability
Entrance fees offer a sense of stability to both seniors and their loved ones. By living in a continuing care retirement community, your entrance fee will cover the entire continuum of care that you’ll receive during your stay. This means that more active senior adults can enjoy the freedom of independent living while also having peace of mind that their future needs will be accounted for. By choosing a CCRC, you can rest assured that if you ever require more advanced levels of care, you’ll be able to receive it without having to relocate to another community.
2. You’re Investing in Your Future
Investing in yourself is the best investment you can make! Therefore, rather than seeing this amount as a fee, you should view it as an investment in your future care and overall quality of life as you age. Although it may seem counterintuitive, entrance fees can ultimately make retirement communities more valuable in the long run. While your monthly payments will go towards daily operational expenses, entrance fees tend to fund capital improvements for the community. This ensures that new amenities and services are constantly being introduced and that the community is always beautiful and well-maintained. Furthermore, you can rest assured that you will be reaping the benefits from your investment while you live there.
3. You Can Protect Your Wealth
Perhaps one of the most significant benefits of an entrance fee is that it’s an investment in not only your future care, but also your personal wealth. After all, retirement is the culmination of years of hard work — and it is imperative to ensure your earnings are in good hands. Depending on the contract that’s selected, a large portion of your entrance fee will be returned to you or your estate when you leave the community. Similar to any club membership, you are purchasing an entrance fee to join the retirement community and reserve your desired residence at either a 90% or 0% refund to your estate.
The Time is Now: Planning Your Elevated Retirement at Seafields
It’s never too early to start planning for retirement! Many older adults dream of retiring and spending the next chapter of their lives in a luxurious independent senior living community like Seafields. While many are intimidated by the thought of entrance fees, we hope that reading this blog has helped you understand the value they bring to your life post-retirement.
To learn more about the all-inclusive, maintenance-free, and elevated lifestyle that retiring at Seafields provides, click the button below to get in touch with a member of our team. Whether you have additional questions about our entrance fees or you want to learn more about life at Seafields, we look forward to speaking with you.
