Where do we find the seniors?
There are tens of millions of seniors in our country today who will need assistance with their Activities of Daily Living, according to AARP. That doesn’t mean they’re all going to move into an assisted living home or facility, but they will need help. The question is how do they get that help? How are they going to find you? Are you going to help with that assistance by providing a home for them to live in and or the care for them? If so, that’s what Residential Assisted Living is all about.
Do seniors want to live with other seniors, and are they going to get along?
Yes. There’s a lot of seniors who are aging in place at home right now. Their kids have moved away. They’re at home all alone and maybe they can take care of themselves, but frankly, they would much rather have people around them. Being with other seniors their age is vital to their health and their mental stability and wellness as well, so it’s a great thing. Are they going to get along with strangers? People ask us that all the time. The answer is yes. The reality is they get it. They understand, they would rather be in their own home with their own family all around, but they know that’s not their reality. They do need help in a different level, different kind. They want to be with peers of their own age and there’s give and take.
How can they afford Residential Assisted Living?
You know, a lot of people think the government’s going to take care of the long-term care needs of the parents or grandparents in their life, and the answer is, well, the federal government does give money to the state government. The state then comes up with a program. They basically say to their citizens, show us that you’re of age, let’s say 65 and above, show us your assets, your income, your age, and we’ll determine if you qualify for our program. That state’s program may pay out $2,000 a month for long-term care or assisted living, but that amount is going to be reduced by whatever income they have. We focus on private pay. Private pay is where that senior’s assets are being used to pay for their care or the family is subsidizing it privately, but it’s private money, not government money, not an insurance program. Now there are long-term care insurance programs, which are wonderful. The reality is less than 10 percent of the people that come into our homes have those long-term care policies. Most of them are using private resources, the senior’s home that’s been liquidated, a retirement account IRA, a pension fund that they or their widow, spouse are now receiving and collecting. It’s usually those three things, liquidating any other assets they have and once that money runs out, then it’s the kids who are supplementing whatever it is they need to take care of mom and dad.
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