Active Senior Moves to a Continuing Care Retirement Community

A Freedom Village independent resident shares why she chose to move to a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) from a 55 plus retirement community (Laguna Woods), Three months later she was blessed with a quick rehab recovery at Freedom Village Skilled Nursing Care after breaking her hip. Author Diane Masson shares a tip from her book, “Your Senior Housing Options.”

 

Answers for seniors, adult children and family members in “Your Senior Housing Options,”authored by Diane Masson.  It’s available on Amazon.com.

7 Tips to have “The Talk” with a Senior

7 Tips to have “The Talk” with a Senior

Do they prefer tea or coffee?

Do they prefer tea or coffee?

Last week the Tips2Seniors blog discussed: Seniors in Denial, Relying on Friends and Family.” Every single one of us knows a senior who is struggling in their home. Some seniors silently suffer and others have a whole network of support from family and friends.

Ultimately when a loved one or neighbor tries to have “The Talk” with the senior it can have five typical results:

  1. Denial: “I am not ready yet.  I am just fine living in my own home.”
  2. Shutting down: “I don’t want to discuss this.”
  3. Anger: “Why are you questioning my ability to be independent? Leave me alone.”
  4. Confusion: “Don’t you want to come see me everyday? I don’t understand.”
  5. Acceptance: “I understand that I have become a burden. Maybe it’s time to look at what my senior housing options could be. Will you help me look?”

In my 17-year senior housing career, sons, daughters and spouses have asked me the same question, how do I have “The Talk.”

Here are my 7 Tips to have “The Talk.”

  1. Set the stage for “The Talk”. You know if it is better to have “The Talk” in public or private with your senior.
    1. Public talk: Take them out to eat in a public location (so they can’t yell at you or they can’t escape into their bedroom).
    2. Private talk: Buy or make your seniors their favorite cookies. Serve the favorite cookies with their special coffee or tea at their dining room table.
  1. Tell your senior how much you love them.
  1. Then share your concerns, be very factual. Such as:
  • You have fallen twice.
  • You missed your medications three times this week.
  • I come over here every day to help you.
  1. Explain your fears in loving detail. Every day when I call you my heart stops till you answer the phone on the third ring. I can’t handle the stress. It is making me sick with worry. I can’t keep this up. If something happens to me, you will be in jeopardy. (It is okay to cry and show your emotions. This is very emotional.)
  1. Recommend a solution to explore senior housing options together. I know you don’t want to move but it will be healthier for you and healthier for me. Let’s do this together.
  1. There is a book that can teach us how to find a great retirement community versus a mediocre one. Here’s the book, it is called, “Your Senior Housing Options.”

Depending on your senior, read it to them or you each read it on your own. Use the tips and advice in the book to find the best senior housing arrangement.

  1. Schedule a luncheon tour at a local retirement community that you have vetted with the tips from the book, “Your Senior Housing Options.”

If this article struck a cord with you, please share it on social media to help a friend or neighbor going through a struggle with a senior.

Give the gift of knowledge: “Your Senior Housing Options,” is an easy read with illustrations. It walks seniors and their adult children through the costs and pitfalls of navigating senior housing and includes the “7 Deadly Sins of Searching for Senior Housing Options.”

News Flash: Diane Masson’s interview on Generation Bold Radio broadcasted on Sunday, December 6th on the BizTalkRadio Network syndicated to 33 stations across the country.

Diane Masson is a senior living expert who has authored two 5-star rated books sold through Amazon. Her new book is an all-encompassing answer guide for seniors called, “Your Senior Housing Options,” designed to help seniors navigate choices quickly. The second book was written for senior living professionals called, “Senior Housing Marketing – How To Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full.” Reach out to her through her website: Tips2Seniors.com and read the weekly blog.

Seniors Getting Squeezed

Seniors Getting Squeezed

Your Senior Housing OptionsWhat should this senior couple do? They sold their home that they could not manage any more and decided to move into an independent rental retirement community in Orange County, California. The couple has an income of $3,600 a month, but their monthly rent is $5,200. (The senior couple’s rent includes three meals a day, wellness classes, entertainment, housekeeping, transportation and etc.) So $1,600 is taken out of their savings for rent on a monthly basis, plus they still have to pay for telephone, Internet, hair styling, car bills, pharmaceuticals, insurances and possibly even gifts and travel.

This senior couple is just one example. Their plight is not uncommon. Thousands of seniors are concerned that their meager savings are eroding too quickly. 

What happens when a senior needs assisted living? How will they afford it? What if one of them has a debilitating stroke and needs long-term skilled nursing? On a nationwide basis, it averages $80,000 a year.

Are you aware that board and care homes in Orange County California recently went up $1,000 to $1,500 a month because of the increase to minimum wage? Board and cares are the least expensive options for seniors needing assisted living type care. How will seniors afford the care now?

Social security is not increasing for seniors in 2016.

Costs for independent living, assisted living, memory care and Continuing Care Retirement Communities will continue to rise as food, utilities and minimum wage goes up. Most of these retirement communities are saddled with a 50 to 100 million mortgage. The residents will be making those interest payments too.

Here’s a tip: Ask what the history of the year-over-year monthly fee increases have been. What will it be in 2016? Some predictions are 5 – 8 percent increases? What have you heard?

It is getting tougher for seniors to make decisions and plan for their future.

Here’s another tip: Sometimes that one time investment at a Continuing Care Retirement Community ends up costing you less in the long run. Figure out the break-even point for you. Many offer you support if you outlive your resources. Ask lots of questions and do not rely on verbal promises of senior living sales people.

News Flash: Diane Masson’s new interview on Generation Bold Radio will broadcast on Sunday, December 6th on the BizTalkRadio Network syndicated to 33 stations across the country.  

Diane Masson is a senior living expert who has authored two 5-star rated books sold through Amazon. Her new book is an all-encompassing answer guide for seniors called, “Your Senior Housing Options,” designed to help seniors navigate choices quickly. The second book was written for senior living professionals called, Senior Housing Marketing – How To Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full. Reach out to her through her website: Tips2Seniors.com and read the weekly blog.

7 Deadly Sins of Searching for Senior Housing

Smart seniors plan ahead and research their options. Don’t get caught in a health care crisis. Once you are in crisis mode, your options may be limited. These seven deadly sins are a summation of my work with thousands of seniors during the course of my career.

Do you agree with these 7 deadly sins in the video?  Do they apply for home care, assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing and Continuing Care Retirement Communities?

 

Your Senior Housing Options,” has a simplistic title, but what’s inside this new book can save a you months of research time.  Hear Diane Masson’s interview of how her mother and in-law’s faced the pivotal decision to plan ahead or wait until a crisis.  Learn the pitfalls from transitioning from your home to senior housing.  Understand what questions to ask, insider tips and dirty secrets revealed. For weekly tips join at: Www.Tips2Seniors.com 

Diane Masson has worked in senior housing for 17 years and is the regional marketing director for two debt-free Continuing Care Retirement Communities in Southern CA (Freedom Village in Lake Forest and The Village in Hemet).  Her first book “Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full,” is being utilized by senior housing professionals across the country.  Both her first book and second book, “Your Senior Housing Options,” have a 5-star rating on Amazon.com.

Cost of Home Care vs Assisted Living, Channel 6 TV Interview with Diane Masson

Most seniors want to stay in their own home. Learn five keys in this TV interview to differentiate a reputable home care company from a fly-by-night company.   Paying a caregiver under the table may end up being your most expensive option. Can you afford 24-hour home care? If not, learn the costs of your other options before you deplete your resources. Learn more insider tips in a new resource book, “Your Senior Housing Options” or get weekly advice for free at WWW.tips2seniors.com.

“Your Senior Housing Options,” has a simplistic title, but what’s inside this new book can save you months of research time.  Hear Diane Masson’s interview of how her mother and in-law’s faced the pivotal decision to plan ahead or wait until a crisis.  Learn the pitfalls from transitioning from your home to senior housing.  Understand what questions to ask, insider tips and dirty secrets revealed.  The decision to stay home requires caregivers.  Prevent elder abuse by determining if a home care agency is reputable, before they move into your home.  You are just not looking for today’s needs, but for your future care.  Discover key differences between rental facilities vs Continuing Care Retirement Communities.  Do you have enough financial resources if you need to be in a higher level of care for an extended period of time?  For weekly tips join at: Www.Tips2Seniors.com 

Diane Masson has worked in senior housing for 17 years and is the regional marketing director for two debt-free Continuing Care Retirement Communities in Southern CA (Freedom Village in Lake Forest and The Village in Hemet).  Her first book “Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full,” is being utilized by senior housing professionals across the country.  Both her first book and second book, “Your Senior Housing Options,” have a 5-star rating on Amazon.com.