When it comes time to decide how, when and where you should retire there are a multitude of questions and considerations to determine what the best path is for your retirement or golden years. These years can be spent in quiet solitude, extensive family interactions, independent living environments, or retirement villages. All of these choices depend on your own preferences, financial considerations and the lifestyle you want to lead in your sunset years.

Before you make a decision on retirement

Making a decision that will affect the rest of your life should be one considered before being made hastily. Being well-informed is one of the best ways to make a decision both about where you want to live, how you want to live and can you live the way you want to live. One of the first things that should be done is to have a conversation with your family and friends and communicate your desires. Some of the considerations include the ability to keep up the family home compared with retiring into her retirement village, the cost comparisons between the two, and the lifestyle that you want and if it can be achieved in a retirement village. Getting advice from family and friends will help but there are other professionals with expert opinions that can also guide your decision making process. You should consult with your doctor, lawyer, and accountant in order to make a completely informed decision. Understanding that this decision will affect your family, your finances and will either make you happy or miserable if you make a bad decision will help you make a well-informed decision instead of hurrying in to a poorly formed action.

Sizing up the competition

Research is one of the best ways to find out which facility or retirement village best suits your needs and can give you the lifestyle you want. Remember not to sign up for the first facility that you visit. Most times visiting between 3 to 5 different retirement villages is the best way to get a fair comparison of accommodations, activity schedules, available staff and pricing considerations. In making your visits ensure to talk to both staff and residents to get a feel for the daily routine and what in their opinion are the best and worst things about living in a retirement village. Ensuring that the most important parts of each facility according to your desires meet your specifications is one of the first things to accepting and moving forward in the planning stages of retirement. Retirement village contracts are legal documents and not like an ordinary house purchase, so be sure to provide your contract to your lawyer to review before signing. Other questions that should be considered include:

Do they have a waiting list, how long is it and how is it managed?
Questions regarding life in the retirement village which should include all of the things that concern you in the way you expect to live.
Does the facility provide for long-term care and is able to transition you into a different care environment as you get older and require more care?
What is the cost after the contract is signed to leave the retirement village? Are the stipulations or options available and what are they?

Most retirees want a life free from obligation and commitment to things such as maintenance and upkeep of a family home but there are other considerations before signing on the dotted line. Make the decision carefully and be rewarded throughout your retirement.