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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Good lord, this post is a list of young people desires. Guess what: when you retire you will:
1. be much more likely to live near your kids/grandkids
2. have health limitations that make urban living and walkability a challenge
3. still have life obligations if you have other humans in your life
How shitty OP to say joining up with other old people, preparing to die
It reads like such a selfish point of view like your entire retirement is a personal vacation. I'm so thankful instead that my mom was near us and in our kids' daily lives. And now that she has to move into a senior living facility, yeah I guess she is preparing to die. No need to actually bother living in the meantime I guess.
I'm 51 with two young kids. My sister is 49 with two teenagers. We have had my mom in our lives every day for the last 15 years because she moved to DC to be near us when we had children. And now as I'm getting near retirement age, I'm taking care of my mom every day. I can pretty much guarantee that my own retirement isn't going to involve a lot of self-indulgence or a nonstop vacation. It may suck but it is reality. Sure, I'd love go to live in Paris in the Marais, but I'm not leaving my mom to die alone and also planning to be around for my kids.
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I wrote the above from a deep hole of misery in the midst of moving my mom into senior living after 6 months of my mom's major depression/anxiety that I was seriously scared would kill her because no treatment seemed to help. My mom is now 3 weeks in to living in a Senior independent living community - Brightview (many locations in DC/Baltimore/Annapolis metro area). I am happy to say that her new living situation seems to have been a turning point...she is literally hungry for first time in 6 months and it's like a black curtain has raised. Brightview has been amazing for her - she gets breakfast and dinner daily (in a social dining room setting) plus daily activities all day long. She now lives 5 minutes away from us and is going to daily exercise classes, book club meetings, learning to crochet and taking yoga/meditation classes. Her building is beautiful and new, with a ton of common areas like a lounge with a fireplace, a gym, a library/coffee shop, and a movie theater. So now: My new goal is to save enough for retirement to be able to live in a place like this when I really need it. It's not cheap (honestly probably 90% of her monthly income) but it has everything she needs. If she needs assisted living, it's offered, and we have long-term care insurance to help out at that point. But she has a social network and support and no longer has to feel like she's a total burden on us. For whatever reason, my sisters and I never were able to break through her depression, but somehow having social interaction outside of us taking care of her seems like it is doing wonders. So...no fun to have to worry about your life in your declining years, but be sure to plan for that part, too. My eyes are definitely open to how much income is needed for this...and how important it is to save for this stage.

Last thing on saving...I think so many people think of investing until they retire and then cashing in, but it is still so important to invest while you are retired also, so you still have a nest egg growing and can afford supportive communities when you need them, which might not happen until 20 or 30 years after you retire.[/quote]

Can you give an idea of how much it's costing/how much one would need to save in order to afford a place like this?[/quote]

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