The Average Cost of Senior Living

It’s easy to frown upon checking how much senior living costs when you can let your loved one age in your home. While in-home caregivers might seem economical, they can result in greater stress and higher fees than other options. If you compare it with senior living, the benefits your loved ones can receive are often better.

So let’s look at the various expenses and fees associated with senior living.

Senior Living Costs and Expenses

A society filled with welcoming and friendly peers, better access to transportation, and enhanced social life. The senior living benefits are worth more than the price you have to pay.

First and foremost, senior living expenses can differ across nations and regions. If you want to determine its costs, consider the amenities and services you’ll need, and what is included in the monthly rate of the package option you will opt for.

To give you an idea of the average cost of senior living prices, we’ll break down some of the expenses you’ll need to consider in your budget plan.

One-Time Upfront Fee

Often called community fees, entrance or upfront fees are one-time charges some assisted living centers require when a resident moves in. These fees usually range from $30k – $1 million or more. However, these sky-high entrance payments don’t affect most seniors as they are mainly specific to special types of senior living communities called Continuing Care Retirement Communities or CCRCs. A typical assisted living center may charge one month’s worth of rent as an entrance cost.

Recurring Monthly Fees

The resident’s meals, transportation, and the residential unit, in addition to their particular care service and assistance with daily living activities, are covered by this fee. This differs based on the resident’s personalized care needs and apartment size, ensuring they only spend for what they need. You may check this to see the common types of residences in senior living communities.

Depending upon your location and your loved one’s specialized needs, you might pay more or less $4,500 monthly.

Care Services Fee

This fee gets added to the recurring monthly costs and uses a tiered method based on the level of care your loved one will need. The level of care depends on the number of daily activities the resident will require regular assistance. This includes eating, toileting, dressing, bathing, and much more. The monthly cost for tier one may begin at $150 or so and goes up a few hundred or thousand dollars depending on the level of assisted living care.

Medication Management Services and Ancillary Services

Seniors needing assistance taking medications at the right time and dose can avail of medication management services for an extra monthly cost based on the complexity of medication administration. Other ancillary services like occupational or physical therapy can also be charged on a monthly basis if needed, along with non-care related services like extra meals, parking, and some activities.

Final Thoughts

It pays to know how much you’ll pay for and why over a senior-living investment, be it for you or your loved one. This can help you prepare mentally and makes your budgeting easier. Although we were able to provide approximate costs on the various expenses you’ll expect when inquiring from assisted living centers, note that this will still depend on your country and region.