Are you aged 55 or over?

[Vintagejazz]

Just heard an ad on Smooth FM for retirement homes for people aged 55 or over. . My sister will be 55 in November. She was at a party last night, is flying to Geneva tomorrow for some work meetings, and is meeting me next weekend for lunch and clothes shopping. She and her husband play tennis at least twice a week and work in very high powered jobs. They have barbecues, go to concerts and run marathons.

Seriously, marketing retirement homes at 55 year olds?? In this day and age?? AIBU to think this is absolutely crazy and totally out of touch with reality?

A few years ago i went out to a lady who'd fainted. She was 89 and still went running, she attributed her good health to never using the downstairs loo thus making her walk up and down stairs several times a day.
The reason she'd fainted was because she'd had a large pub lunch complete with wine on a hot day, lucky woman.

My FIL has just abseiled off the cathedral tower in aid of the local hospice, he's 86 and planning wing walking for his next charity exploit.

My DH and I looked at McCarthy & Stone new flats a few years ago. He was 65 at the time. We would have lost two bedrooms and the computer room, there were no garages for cars (2), and where would my DH have kept his bikes? McCarthy & Stone do not cater for the run of the mill over 50s.

The flats and grounds did look nice but we would not have done the gardening; we would have had to pay a maintenance charge for someone else to do it. What do they think people would do with their lives? Just housework and watch television?

I think it's just another way to downsize. I'd love to move in with a load of my mates when all our dcs have flown the nest. It could be a lot of fun without having to faff about with cooking for two for decades and making ends meet. I think it's odd to think of our houses as our whole being, it's really just a place to live.

There's a very exclusive one near me currently taking 'bookings' and I think it's a long term view people have in mind when they start at 55, but it's far more healthy to move into one while fit and healthy than wait until you're immobile.

Perhaps we should start one for old mumsnetters.

Researching shared ownership and help to buy I noticed there are young age cut-offs for eligibility and nothing apart from over-55 apartments to plug that affordability gap (talking London here, if I choose to retire somewhere else I would buy a house). I think there is a gap in the market here.

There are a couple of 'retirement' areas near me. Really pretty two bed bungalows with lovely gardens.

I'm almost tempted, especially as my knees are giving me gyp at the moment. (obviously belting around a badminton court didn't do them any good...).

It is a little bit silly to treat today's 'older' generation the same as our parents' and grandparents' generations. My 70 year-old DH is still working. I work part-time and can't collect my pension for another 6 years (thanks for that).

I think if they want to market these properties for 'older' people, they need to lose the retirement aspect and just point out that for some people it's good to downsize when the are able to benefit from the spare cash and for others, like a friend of mine (in her 70s) it is good to move somewhere more peaceful if your neighbours are anti-social a little troublesome.

But for those that want and are able to stay in their own home then that's fine.

Just don't complain they're hogging 3 and 4-bed houses they don't need any more!

I agree. I'm 56 and get really annoyed (and rather despondent) at the marketing aimed at over 50's.
Especially since we all now have to work much longer too.

Yy Nannyogg. The term retirement should be retired, it is unrealistic.

Exactly, NannyOgg. Would like a bungalow actually :)

Still working and sporting too.

Oh and my mum says she gets a bit tired these days because she has mowed the lawn, pruned the trees and done a day's volunteering in the Oxfam shop.
She's 91.

My parents looked into moving into a warden-managed complex very seriously when they turned 55. But then my Mum has MS and is pretty much restricted to a wheelchair.

I think there is a gap in the market - for affordable housing suited to those with, in particular, restricted mobility. It doesn't need to be age-based, IMO.

The things they found particularly appealing were buzzers with pulls to alert the warden if my mum had a fall while my stepdad was out; managed gardens; still having their own front door with its own key.

In the end they decided not to, and spent a small fortune having their house converted.

My DH has a heart condition and I use a wheelchair as I have restricted mobility and we are both in our fifties. I would happily move into a retirement complex as it's very easy to feel isolated when we are both ill. We intend to move once we both reach our early sixties but will do it sooner if either of us become more ill.

I think it is much more of a problem that people don't move soon enough and become a burden on their families. I've told my family that I never want to be too reliant on them and will happily move into a home if I am not well enough to make the decision myself.

When I worked in Care homes, it bought home to me how well my Mum was, she is now 86.

Other people aren't as well and a hostel system for someone with health problems, wouldn't be appropriate.

The bedroom tax applies to people at 55, but many would struggle with some types of accommodation offered, for instance.

Governments have to plan a Care/Welfare system and set funding levels, Charities have to pinpoint their demographic.

So the age setting of an older person at 55, is appropriate.

""I think there is a gap in the market - for affordable housing suited to those with, in particular, restricted mobility. It doesn't need to be age-based, IMO.""

We have blocks of low rise flats that are age restricted, there are enough issues with visiting Granchildren etc, without a mix of families and people who want a quieter way of life.

We had a development build with mobility restricted younger people in mind, which gave some appartments their own garden and were deliberately close to schools etc.

These have worked well, for the five years they have been built and have improved the quality of life for disabled parents.

Obviously people in their fifties with mobility problems will be thinking short and long term about accommodation that will suit their needs.

And yes, there are some very elderly people who insist on remaining in their own homes long after it has become feasible and place a huge burden of worry on their families.

But neither of the above scenarios make it logical, in my opinion, to use 55 as the age to which to start marketing retirement facilities. It just doesn't make sense in a world where the vast majority of 50 somethings are still active, working full or part time, and often still have teenage children. A lot of that demographic could be looking at spending 30-35 years living in a retirement complex?

I think these places are just a cover for nice house with no chance of any children around to annoy you mysil parents moved to a place like that, my mum is 64 and still working I guess some people can afford to retire early

I have a friend who moved into one of these places in her seventies. I was horrified. She's fit, exercises and is very young for her years. She explained to me that she was moving in preparation for her really old years. Her mother lived to 99 and she expects to live at least as long. Now I see her side of things.

If these things are left too late, options greatly reduce. Care home anyone?

Gosh maybe I should book myself into one right now then. And I'm heading out after lunch to buy myself a shawl and a rocking chair and a packet of werther's originals.

Local library had a leaflet a few years ago for the vulnerable elderly who were defined as being over 55. I'm over 55 and not in the least vulnerable! We are trying to sell MIL's sheltered accommodation as she is now in a care home. There is a glut on the market, the ridiculous prices they had when new are now about half (and if you can't sell you still have to pay the monthly charges etc until you get rid of the property!)

What time does Countdown start?

Oh, and there's a bogof on Complan at the supermarket if any 55 year olds are interested.

I wonder do Meals and Wheels visit 55 year olds? It would be dead handy if you got delayed at a board meeting and didn't feel like cooking when you got home.

I record it so that I can watch it with a nice mug of cocoa when I get home from the gym

There is flats apartments near me that were advertised as early retirement opportunity something it was on the board I guess people are interested because theyall sold ,

No you order wiltshire farm meals instead

Wonder if retirement apartments accept children as I have 2, youngest is 12. Myself and dh would qualify with the age thing.

Just a thought. I am the worlds worse cook, would meals on wheels deliver to a family of 4.