“How much is this month’s Edison bill?!”
“Time to pay my property tax again…”
“Not a broken water heater to replace!”
“Can’t believe I spent $198 for a week’s groceries…”
“I’m late on writing the checks for the gardener and housekeepers!”
If you find your time and your bank account consumed by these types of concerns, an all-inclusive community will put your mind at ease! At a glance, community costs may appear exorbitant.
But it’s important to take the time to do a true financial comparison: how does the community’s singular monthly, predictable bill compare to the sum of all living expenses in a private home?
“All-inclusive” senior living typically means most daily expenses are combined into one monthly fee. This generally covers housing, utilities, meals, housekeeping, maintenance, transportation, activities, and access to on-site amenities and staff.
Assisted Living and Memory Care services usually require an additional fee. Because services vary, families should review contracts carefully to understand what’s included, as well as how costs may increase over time.
On a related note, costs of assisted living care services in a community setting may appear very high. However, since these are shared-care environments, it’s actually a great deal!
Typically, private home care in the Santa Barbara area runs about $40/hour. Most agencies require a minimum of 4 consecutive hours in order to send a caregiver to the home. So we’re looking at $160/day, assuming that all assistance can be completed in those four consecutive hours.
If medications need to be administered at several times throughout the day, or there is a need for continual supervision/assistance due to fall risk or memory loss (24/7 in-home care), costs are often up to $1000 per day ($30,000 per month).
This pales in comparison to the care costs you’ll find at communities, which generally range from $17/day – $133/day ($500 – $4000 per month).
A final thought: many seniors ask this question: how do I budget for the rest of my life, since I don’t know how many years to account for? While certainly statistical analysis can give us a framework for this, it’s hard to budget ahead considering varying monthly living expenses and surprise home repair costs.
An all-inclusive community can make budgeting much easier as the fee stays more consistent and predictable. Not to mention the simplicity of paying ONE bill per month instead of ten or fifteen. Communities range widely in price-point, so it’s important to consider all the options!
One all-inclusive option is Wood Glen Senior Living, Santa Barbara’s local, non-profit senior living community since 1957!
Rates start below $5000/month – as mentioned above, this includes housing, all meals, most utilities, housekeeping, maintenance, transportation, plentiful activities, and access to on-site amenities and staff.
Schedule your visit to Wood Glen today to learn more! Call Holly at (805) 687-7771, or email us at hello@woodglensb.org .
