Here’s a chilling fact: as the baby boomer generation heads toward retirement age, the cost of retirement homes in Ontario is outrageous.
A report published in the Toronto Star indicates that the average price for a small seniors retirement apartment in the Toronto area is close to $5,000 a month.
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Costs are lower outside the Toronto area, but you could still be looking to pay between $2,000 to $3,000 a month in many facilities.
Of course, not all seniors will opt to move to a retirement home, most would prefer to stay in their homes.
But financial or physical factors will force many seniors to choose retirement homes and, at those prices, it won’t take long for seniors to drain what retirement savings they’ve put away.
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That begs the question: what are they supposed to do if the money runs out?
Affordability is certainly an issue for many seniors, but so is availability.
Ontario’s ‘plus-75’ demographic grew by almost three per cent last year and that number is expected to double in the next few years and there just aren’t enough retirement units being built to meet the need.
The good news is, we’re living longer.
The bad news is, the older you get, the more expensive it becomes to have a roof over your head, and that’s just wrong!