Quote:
Originally Posted by SantaClaus
There have been some very helpful replies and I'm most grateful. I am curious about Freedom Pointe. My parents, who live independently up the road at Spruce Creek have been considering them, but said after their tour that "membership" was a "couple hundred thousand"!? Anybody know what this is about? It sounds like they are pre-paying for a housing and care package?
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Freedom Pointe is (except for direct entry into ALF or skilled nursing), a continuing care retirement community. CCRCs generally (altho it varies by state) are a life interest in your apartment with guaranteed availability of ALF and skilled nursing when you need it. Your buy in is, in part, prepaying for that guarantee and part (but not all) of the costs of ALF and skilled. Your heirs may (or may not - depends on the state and the facility) get part of the buy in returned when you are gone.
We looked at CCRCs in several cities (including FP). While it is true that they have activities at the CCRC, what they offer may or may not be what you want. One thing we found useful was to pay attention to the folks we passed in the halls and common areas during tours. How many are smiling and happy?
After considering roughly 20 CCRCs (and looking at info at another couple dozen), we decided to buy a house here rather than go the CCRC route.