How to Choose a Retirement Home in Delaware

More and more seniors are making the move to Delaware for retirement. This often-overlooked state is appearing on retiree radar because of its low taxes, natural beauty, and ample coastline. The cost of living by the ocean is much less here than in many other states. You can enjoy four seasons in Delaware, but the winters are much milder than in the northern states. The pace of life is refreshingly slow, but you can conveniently access the bigger cities like Baltimore and D.C. Whatever your reasons for choosing Delaware, consider the following steps to choosing the best retirement home possible.

Plan Your Finances

Don’t waste your retirement savings on a place you cannot afford. The time to take financial risks is over and now you need to plan carefully. Survey your savings and income to determine a reasonable number for how much you can afford to spend each month in retirement. The last thing you want to do is go back to work! Make sure your number includes all possible expenses. A monthly rent or mortgage is just one piece of the puzzle. You will also be spending money on food, services, entertainment, and travel.

Evaluate Your Priorities

Take the time to carefully deliberate and decide what is most important to you in retirement. Is it access to services and health care? Is it being close to friends and family? Maybe you have always dreamed of living on the ocean and nothing else will do. Are there certain activities and recreation that you expect to spend a lot of time with? In that case, you will want to be close to them. If traveling is important to you, consider how close you will be to an airport. You stand the best chance of making the right choice when you have a thorough understanding of what you want.

Type of Living Arrangement

It's also very important to understand what you need. Maybe you want to own your own home on the beach, but is that reasonable? Will you be able to maintain your home? The idea of living in a retirement home may not be appealing, but consider if that's best suited to your needs. You can find retirement communities that are age-restricted. These places tend to offer minimal or no services, but allow you to live amongst other seniors. Retirement homes with apartment-style living will offer you more services. You can typically pick and choose the services you need, and add more later on as needed.

Do Your Homework

When you have narrowed down your choices to a few homes or communities, do careful homework to make a final selection. Visit each facility several times. If you're coming from out of state, ask to stay the night there. If not staying overnight, visit during off hours in addition to taking the official tour. Explore the town or city in which you plan to live and talk to residents about what the community is like. The more careful you are about doing the research, the more confident you will be with your final decision.

Author: Sheila Martin
Publish Date: Thu, 11/24/2011 - 13:03
Categories: Delaware, Living in