Monarch Landing	UPDATED: Thursday, February 14, 2008
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Where will you live?

Posted on Friday, February 01, 2008

By Meghan Streit
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

When you are retired, there are many things to consider—how you will spend your time, how you will fund your retirement, how you will access and pay for health care, to name just a few. But arguably the most important decision you make about your retirement is where you will live.

By the time they reach retirement age, a majority of people live in a house that they own. While many plan to continue living in their houses during retirement, a large percentage of retired households pursue other options.

One-third choose community living
Approximately one-third of people over age 55, some 10.7 million households, choose to live in an age-qualified retirement community, according to a recent report by the National Association of Housing Builders’ 50+ Housing Council.

Individuals cite a variety of different reasons for considering a move to a retirement community. Some move to be closer to children and grandchildren. Others opt for community living for the access to recreational activities and new friends. And for some the motivation may be to alleviate the cost and stress of household maintenance.

Whatever your individual reason for considering a move, Barbara Krueger, founder of seniorresource.com, an organization that helps older adults consider their retirement living options, says it’s critical to explore your options early. She says it’s best when people move to a retirement community “before [they] desperately need to.

“While you’re in good health, it’s going to be easier for you to socialize, make friends, and find your niche,” Krueger says. “If you wait too long, it gets very hard to do that. You really need to be proactive; unfortunately, a lot of people aren’t.”

‘We wanted to make that decision for ourselves’
Curtis Everett and his wife Joan didn’t delay their decision to move—and they are glad they acted when they did. The couple moved to Monarch Landing from South Carolina last April to be closer to their children and grandchildren.

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“My wife and I both knew that the day would come when we wouldn’t be able to take care of the house we were living in, and we didn’t want to wait until that day came to make a decision,” Everett says. “We wanted to make that decision ourselves instead of having our children make it for us.”

Everett says he and his wife looked at several other communities before deciding Monarch Landing was the right choice. He says the friendly staff, attractive common areas, and high-quality food were just a few of the reasons they were attracted to the community.

“We wanted some room, and this place is very spacious,” he says. “Monarch Landing isn’t like an institution, it’s like a club.”

Of course the amenities and the décor can only go so far in making a community— it’s the people who make it a home. Everett says he and his wife have made several new friends since moving to Monarch Landing. He describes the community as “a big family."

“In the dining room, everyone’s talking and laughing; it’s a good environment,” he says. “I saw other places where everyone was just sitting quietly staring at their plates.”

Friends, activities make retirement a joy
The 50+ Housing Council report indicates that 22% of people who move to age-qualified, active adult communities cite access to leisure activities as their top reason for moving.

For Bill Kopperud and his wife Dorothy, the abundance and variety of things to get involved in at Monarch Landing was a big draw. Like many people, he says they’d often eat dinner in front of the TV when they were living at their house. Now mealtime for the Kopperuds is a daily opportunity to socialize with friends.

Kopperud says the clubs and activities at Monarch Landing have opened him up to new things, like working on the community’s television crew, where he has made new friends and learned how to use video editing software.

“If I were still living back at our house, I never would have gotten involved in something like that,” he says.

“There’s just a lot of fun stuff to do here.”