The New Retirement: Near the Kids

More assisted living, independent living, and continuing care retirement communities are being constructed in the United States wherever economies are healthy and prosperous rather than in warmer-climate regions, reports the New York Times . This is because many seniors are opting to relocate near their adult children for help in their final years. AARP Foundation President Lisa Marsh Ryerson says prolonged isolation has serious health effects on seniors, while a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found a link between isolation and loneliness and a higher risk of mortality in adults 52 and older. Senior living communities can help counter that isolation, as can moving closer to adult children. "It's often the case that the adult child — and usually adult daughter — visits their parent and finds there's something that's not completely copacetic," says Beth Burnham Mace with the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care. "They left the stove on, or have ambulatory needs, or trouble with meds. Something sets off an alarm bell that they need some type of assistance." Experts predict that the demand for senior housing will continue growing, partly because older homeowners who may have been hesitant to sell their homes when the housing market was weak are now more willing to sell and relocate. Moreover, the new tax law, which doubled the standard deduction for most taxpayers while cutting the amount of mortgage interest homeowners can deduct, also may incentivize older homeowners to sell.