Can my in-laws afford to move? Financial gurus, we need your opinion!

[Anonymous]

Here is the situation - They are both in their 80s and in frail health. They live in a very economically depressed area. The home that they put about $350-$400K into and own fully, they would be lucky if they could get $100K for at this point. Pretty awful and not smart financial choices on their part. It is a rural area and they can't continue to live on their own without some serious support (nurses, drivers, someone to manage the property). So... they are contemplating moving to the DC area to be close to us. They have a fixed monthly pension of about $2600 and a retirement account with about $500K. They have health insurance (Humana) through a previous employer and Medicare. They do not have any long term insurance. So... how do we figure out if they can afford to move without selling their house? Or move after selling it for next-to-nothing?

[Anonymous]

OP here - One more detail... we live in a small house (1100 sq feet) and could not move them in with us.

[Anonymous]

Do they have other choices? You wrote they cant continue without major help. It doesn't really matter if they can technically afford to move or not if thats the only place for them to move for support.

[Anonymous]

If they could be close but not too close they could probably afford to move somewhere like Winchester. There is good health care there and the cost of living is so much cheaper due to the distance to DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do they have other choices? You wrote they cant continue without major help. It doesn't really matter if they can technically afford to move or not if thats the only place for them to move for support.

Their other choice would be to continue where they are, but spend $$ on drivers, nursing care, etc. This would be very stressful and precarious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If they could be close but not too close they could probably afford to move somewhere like Winchester. There is good health care there and the cost of living is so much cheaper due to the distance to DC.

They would need regular help to get groceries, doctors appts, etc. I think if they are too far away from us, that would be possible.

[Anonymous]

Does their monthly income cover their monthly bills, or do they also need to make withdrawals from their savings? I think they can rent right away, while they wait for their house to sell, and when it's sold, that would just add to their savings. They can probably afford to buy in an outer suburb, but I'd be looking for something well under their $500K savings.

[Anonymous]

I think you'd need to sell your house and buy something bigger further out for it to be feasible.

[Anonymous]

They are frail and in their 80's? I would not bother with an independent house for them in the DC suburbs - way too expensive, too much work, and they would likely need to sell & relocate to nursing care before too long. I would look into a home care provider for them in their (presumably less expensive) current environment and hold off on the disruption & expense of moving them until full time care is required.

[Anonymous]

Are either one of them retired Federal employees or ever a commissioned officer in the armed forces? If so, check out Vinson Hall.

[Anonymous]

You don't get to make this decision for them. What do they want to do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are frail and in their 80's? I would not bother with an independent house for them in the DC suburbs - way too expensive, too much work, and they would likely need to sell & relocate to nursing care before too long. I would look into a home care provider for them in their (presumably less expensive) current environment and hold off on the disruption & expense of moving them until full time care is required.

You need a continuing care retirement community where there are different levels of care you can move through as you need it. Do NOT waste any money getting another independent home or apartment.
Odds are (2 80 year old people!) you will have to move one or both of them to a higher level of care in the next 5-10 years and another upheaval is not good for them or their pocket books.
You need to either keep them where they are and get them private help for what they need now or move them to an assistive living/continued care community

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you'd need to sell your house and buy something bigger further out for it to be feasible.

+1. And CCRC's are not cheap.

[Anonymous]

Look around your immediate area, there are apartments around for elderly. There are waitlists, so you need to do you homework and act sooner rather than later.

[Anonymous]

You don't want two 80 year olds in a new home who are already frail and need help with groceries, MD appts, etc.

You will have to sell that place before long and will have wasted a lot of money on transaction costs and interest.

They will still need help for groceries and MD appts, no? And you will be in charge of maintenance, repairs, landscaping, everything. Bad idea.
They need assisted living.