Retirement Resorts
“Life is either a great adventure or nothing” (Helen Keller). Retirement should be the same way. As you approach retirement you have a choice to make - are you going to focus on the problems of old age or on the opportunities that freedom brings? While retirement brings with it much uncertainty, a healthy attitude and an active retirement life can be the start of an exciting new chapter in your life. One of those exciting choices is whether or not you would choose to live in a retirement resort. If you are going to be retired anyway, why not be on permanent holiday in a retirement resort?
Starting a new life in a retirement resort can indeed be the start of a great adventure. Most retirement resorts allow the best of both worlds - you can relax poolside with a good book or friends or you can enjoy the active lifestyle, with many retirement results having their own golf course now and a host of organised activities.
Indeed, retirement can be a great time for personal growth. Many retirement resorts now focus on learning new skills, for example many seniors entering a retirement resort are becoming computer literate for the first time in their lives. Apart from making life much happier, there is now ample evidence that a healthy active lifestyle that includes continual personal development guarantees both a fulfilling and a long life.
Apart from offering a high quality lifestyle, retirement resorts can be found to cover the full range from totally independent living to assisted living. Care is usually available 24-7, with many retirement resorts having their own nursing staff and easy access to medical help. The degree of assistance you require will be a major factor in choosing a retirement resort that suits you, but you carefully the various facilities and benefits offered by each of the retirement resorts you consider.
Once you have a shortlist of retirement resorts you think may be suitable, you should try to visit each one personally and if possible spend the day there. Spending one day in retirement resort you may well spend the next 30 years in is time well spent; check out how the staff treat residents and spend a lot of time talking to residents about how they feel about living in retirement resort.
An alternative to a permanent retirement resort is a timeshare. If you can afford it, this offers the opportunity to live in a retirement resort close to family and friends, but still enjoy two or three trips a year to exotic, exciting locations. With no requirement to clocking up work, retirement can provide the opportunity to travel extensively provided you have the funds to do so. Of course, you do need to read the small print in timeshare arrangements; it is a great opportunity to make your retirement an adventure but there are some scams out there too.
In deciding which is the appropriate retirement resort you, the opportunity of moving interstate to a better climate and achieve a lifestyle needs to be balanced against the need to be close to family friends and familiar surroundings. For most people, living in the USA is the only option - but for some places like Mexico or even Thailand can be potential places to search for the retirement resort of your dreams. If you are considering a retirement resort outside the USA, is strongly recommended that you take an extended holiday there before making any commitment.
