Comparative Independent Living (IL) Costs (Private Pay)

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Chart 8 includes comparable costs, for a couple, I selected for similar space. This has been a team effort by our primary care physician, in-home care manager, Medicare HMO, five specialists, and administrators at seven residential care sites who act more as counselors for a good fit than as sales persons.

Tiger Place developed “aging in place” where services are delivered to each apartment. This has a life extending effect.

Provision Living just opened. It has a combined entry level of independent living and assisted living (and for us, memory care) in one building. It therefore has a higher entry level cost (and lower care plan costs than Tiger Place).

Mill Creek (Americare operates it and Tiger Place) has a lower entry level cost than Tiger Place as only room and board are provided for independent living (IL). My wife can obtain day care for an additional fee that includes a daily trip between independent living (IL) and memory care (MC) buildings.

Lenoir Woods is the oldest, most developed, and low in cost at the independent living, entry level, of care. It provides “aging on campus” with separate buildings for each level of care.

Remaining at home (no rent or mortgage) would cost about half of the cost of moving to these independent living residential care sites. But adding just three hours a day in-home care would equal this cost of residential care (about $40,000/yr without the car in residential care).

The remaining three sites have no support for memory care as the name is now used: a safe and secure environment. At these sites you come and go as you wish.

By all accounts, The Terrace (with a new addition) is a fun retirement facility that gives you the choice to cook or not cook ($31,000 - $36,000/yr). The Village of Bedford Walk expects you to cook but will serve one noon meal a day just in case ($30,000’yr). Boone Landing provides space for medical and non-medical services on site. The combined resort (no cooking) and convenient in-house health support results in a price of $44,000 - $51,000/yr (2015).

The range of MIN-MAX costs, in Chart 8, is strongly related to space (Chart 9.) But how space is used is as important as the square feet. This is very important in all seven sites. Each has a set of best-fit properties that must be visited (sometimes more than once) to see if you get that “I like it” response.

Again, these are all comparable costs. There are many lower cost apartments, if available. Single bedroom apartments are lower in cost than two bedroom apartments.

Recent practice is that pricing will go up 4% a year. If the cost of a mortgage or rent is added to the in-home MIN, then IL can be less than living in your house.