For those of us without family - Who will take care of you ?

We researched CCRCs and other facilities with different levels of care on a single campus.

In the end, a CCRC is really a health insurance plan with housing attached. In other words, depending on the type of contract you decide to pursue, it makes a commitment to ensuring that you receive whatever level of health care you need, up to and including nursing home level care, in its own facilities, at a highly discounted rate. This means that (a) you need to pass a health screen to get in, because the economics are all about making sure the demand for health care among its residents do not exceed the financial resources available to the facility, and (b) if they get the actuarial analysis wrong or the owner pulls too much money out of the facility, they can go bankrupt, and as a resident you don't have a lot of recourse if this happens. Most of the time, of course, they get it right, but when they get it wrong, the failures can be pretty harmful to the residents. There is a national organization for CCRC residents that is worth joining -- it's very active and informative. If you can afford a CCRC, it can definitely reduce your long-term costs if you need higher levels of care, and they can be great places to live, as our local one is. Check to see if your state regulates them, because that's a good level of protection.

If you are prepared to forego the health insurance aspects, there may be a place near you that offers multiple levels of care, from independent living in a patio home all the way up to a nursing home, where you pay whatever the cost is for whatever level of care you need. They may or may not help you bring in aides to help you stay in independent living as long as possible, and will offer various amounts of community engagement. These levels of care may or may not be co-located on the same campus, which may or may not be important to you. The facility may be for-profit or non-profit. In our experience, the non-profits tend to be religious, and are fine with residents joining who are not members of the religion. How much these cost and whether you have a substantial up-front (usually returnable) buy-in fee depends on their individual business model.

Agree entirely about getting on the waiting list, and perhaps getting on the wait list for more than one facility. After all, a wait list is not a final commitment, you have no actual idea when a unit will become available, and multiple lists give you options.

If you are on a month-to-month lease, you can leave whenever you wish. If you are expected to make a large refundable deposit, just read the contract carefully. It is likely that you (or your heirs) will get the deposit back only after the unit has been committed to someone else, which can take up to a year, and that you will be an unsecured creditor, meaning that in the case of bankruptcy, you may get little or none of your money back. Most people do just fine, and have no problems with their refunds. It's just a risk you may wish to consider.

We are planning to move into a co-located facility with a large deposit as soon as a suitable unit opens up, so it's a risk we've decided is worth taking.

In regard to solo aging, you might want to check these out:
-- https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2024/12/08/aging-alone-support-resources/ (may be behind a paywall)
-- https://www.facebook.com/groups/elderorphans (requires access to facebook)
-- https://savvysenior.org/where-solo-agers-can-find-help/
-- https://www.retirementlivingsourcebook.com/articles/solo-aging-resources-curated-by-wendl-kornfeld

We investigated those an option. Much to expensive for us. The wall street journal did an article on them. 16 have filed chapter 11 bankruptcy. It is important to do a deep investigation of any you may be interested in so that you choose one that is solid financially.

Thank you for that information. I think the old adage of "if it sounds too good to be true," might come into play on this one.

I will be 91 next month. I am fortunate to still have all my marbles, can and do take care of myself and I can drive. Even though I have two children, they will not take care of me. So I did a little research. I visited a couple of places that have INDEPENDENT living as I do not need assistance. The staff were very nice but I cannot live in that kind of setting. For what I could afford, the apartments are small and my bed would not even fit in. Since I spent almost all of my working life as a paralegal, my husband and I have a trust. Tomorrow will be four years since his death. Very hard for me. We were together for 62 years. At first we had one of our sons named as trustee to wind up the estate after my death, but bad feelings have erupted between us and I no longer want him in that position, nor in my life. Again, I did research and found a fiduciary trustee. I interviewed her and liked her, so had my last boss (worked 23 years for her) make the proper amendment to the trust documents making her the trustee, and also disinheriting my son and his family. In my view a trust is the way to go. All my assets are in the trust so it will be easy for the trustee to distribute. A Will requires probate which can be expensive and it is a public document. Anyone can go to the courthouse and request to look at your file. I also find that for the most part too many people are cheap. They want to protect their assets but they do not want to pay for a qualified specialist. As in all things, you get what you pay for. My attorney is a specialist. She has expert knowledge and you have to pay for that. And believe me she has no lack of clients because she is recommended. So who will look after me? Hopefully as my trustee and I have discussed, if I do get to that point, I will have someone come to the house to look after me. I will get personal attention. In the institutions, they cannot get experienced help so have to hire whatever they can get. At close to 91 I can't know how much more time I have, but so far I can do whatever I need to do. Hopefully that will continue until the end.

Only concern is Medicare doesn't cover you outside the United States. And if you need to return to U,S, where?

Are you asking about geographic locations in the u.s. or retirement communities? A little more info would hell. Thanks

my comment about medicare coverage is in response to someone else's posting about senior living in Mexico.

Also live in Mexico

I've been told this before. If you enter a assisted living facility that also has a nursing home that they can easily transfer you to when you need more care.