The Foreign Service Journal, January 2006

52 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 6 he idea of selling the house or apartment in favor of a simplified life in a compound designed for elderly people — with access to medical support when needed — seems to come on unexpectedly. My wife and I are 76 and 77, and live in Washington, D.C. Several months ago we invited three couples over for dinner, old friends from our first post in the 1950s. They had difficulty maneuver- ing our steep front steps, and we suddenly realized it was time to consider a change. We have been researching retirement facilities since that evening, have toured six of them (five in the D.C. area and one in New Jersey), and have committed to make the move. While I am no expert on this complicated subject, I share what we have learned below. This will be an introductory primer. Each situation is different and each family must do the research and review its own cir- cumstances. But it is important to face up to the fact of aging, and to the unpredictability of aging’s conse- quences. One decision we reached early on was that moving to a smaller house or apartment, instead of to a retirement complex with health care, did not make sense; this would have led, sooner or later, to a second move. When to Make the Move, and Why There are several basic questions you will want to answer as you begin to weigh this important transition. Is your equity in your home greater than the cost of a smaller apartment? Are current bills for maintenance, repairs, utilities and real estate taxes greater than the specified monthly fees at a retirement facility? Is arranging for nursing care in your home practical and affordable if the need arises, or does it make more sense to move in advance to where the support is? At least we Foreign Service folk have all moved plenty of times. It is never fun, but we do know how. You may be motivated by a number of considerations, such as the following: • Your present quarters seem unnecessarily large, costly or difficult to maintain; or may be increasingly try- ing because of stairs, different levels, yard work, or the expense of heating and cooling. • You may have a desire to prepare for inevitable health problems — particularly with dementia and Alzheimer’s, to which all are subject — in an environ- ment designed to help you cope with them. • You may be determined to avoid becoming a bur- den on your children, and to move while still a couple so that the survivor, when that moment comes, is settled in F O C U S O N F S R E T I R E M E N T M OVING TO A S ENIOR L IVING F ACILITY T I N FACING UP TO THE FACT OF AGING AND THE UNPREDICTABILITY OF ITS CONSEQUENCES , THIS IS ONE OF THE CENTRAL ISSUES TO CONSIDER . B Y B ILL H ARROP