Categories
Del Webb Communities

Perks and Benefits of 55+ Active Adult Living Communities

What are the perks and benefits of living in a 55+ Active Adult Living Community as opposed to a regular suburban community?

Having lived in my suburban community for 21 years and then moving to a Del Webb Community about a year ago, gives me a perspective on that question. So here are my thoughts.

In my 55+ community, the people are friendlier. People wave and smile at you. They spend some time talking with you. Neighbors invite you over for dinner more often.  Maybe we have more time for those things. Maybe there is an undeniable bond among us that we are in the same boat sailing the same seas.

In a 55+ community, there is definitely more things to do, opportunities to play games and enjoy activities.  Thus the name active adult community!

In a 55+ community, there are more facilities and amenities, right here on site.  We have bocce, pickleball and tennis courts.  A lake to fish in. A wonderful clubhouse with indoor and outdoor pools, ballroom, demonstration kitchen, craft rooms, card rooms, library, exercise room, dog park, grand kids playground, walking trails, and wide sidewalks.

We have medical services nearby: a 100 bed hospital right next to our community and many medical buildings close by.  I think most larger 55+ communities have the same.

So many interesting people live here!  One of the unforeseen benefits is to meet so many talented and interesting people.

Living in a 55+ active adult community is fun!  We have so many events every single month.  All kinds of shows like the ventriloquist we saw this weekend, or the many bands who perform here. There are resident shows as well. Day trippers visit some interesting places. The travel club just got back from Ireland. All of the team sports are fun. Some people just love the card and table games.  My wife and I just were saying that even though we have been here almost a year, it feels like we are on vacation and the place is new to us. No boring routines here!

Other benefits of 55+ Active Adult Living Communities:
Landscaping is included. No mowing!
Manned security gate.
Many restaurants give us a discount.
You can walk anywhere in the community or drive a golf cart.
Neighbors you can count on when you need them.
A safe community.
Energy efficient homes with great layouts and senior friendly.
A resort living feeling.

We feel very fortunate to live at an Active Adult Community.  We moved here when I turned 67, why did I wait so long to do that?

Robert and Mary Ann live at Village at Deaton Creek, north of Atlanta Georgia.

 

 

Categories
Retirement

Transition to Retirement

Retirement is the goal of most people and they can’t wait to get there. But actually retiring is a process that takes some time before we discover what retirement for us is really going to be like, on a real time basis.

For many, this newly retired period can be a very pleasant and exciting time, redirecting our time and energy into new pursuits. But even then, there is still a big transition from doing what we have been doing for a long time to something new.

The transition to real retirement can be a little scary and even disappointing to many people. Some may want to go back to the safety and security of their job, just to get out of the uncomfortable position they feel in their transition to retirement.  Retirement may not “yet” be what they thought it would be.

Many people have told me they gave up on retirement and went back to work. Most did this before one year had passed and they usually retired from something and not to something. The something missing was where to redirect their interests, passion and energy. Many did not try new things. They stayed home and got on their spouse’s nerves, did not socialize with people, lost their passion for anything and generally grew miserable. They knew something was not right and they were not living their retirement dream.

So back to work they went to ride a train they had been on for 30 years because it was comfortable for them and they just couldn’t work out the concept of retirement.  I really feel sorry for these people and wish I could help, but each person has to find their own way.

Each person does make the transition into retirement in a different way, but the successful ones usually find something they like to do and people they like to do it with.

In Mary Ann’s and my case, we did slide into retirement, cutting back on our home based business. Some do it by reducing their hours at work. Some by consulting. Part time retirement is better than it sounds, because it allows you to start the transition to the retirement process. I would recommend it.

Another thing we did was to get involved with our local Active Adult Center, yes sometimes called a Senior Center. I know it sounds bad, but there are some really neat “active” senior centers. I joined the walking club and enjoyed walking three days with a week with the guys. On the other days of the week we played Bocce with about 15 people who because our new friends too.

This gave me a great insight and that is: Activities in retirement bring you new friends!

With that understanding, after a few years at the Active Adult Center, we realized our big house with master bedroom upstairs was not good. We did consider moving locally, because we really did like the Johns Creek, GA area where we lived for over 30 years.

However we found out about Active Adult Communities and they seem to offer what we needed; that being a one level ranch style home, friendly neighbors and many, many activities that we knew would bring us new friends.

We now have been in our Del Webb Community for one year and love it! We are enjoying our activities and our new friends.

Now we love playing bocce, cooking class, pickleball, race walking, blogging, collecting, taking cruises, entertaining, reading, going to the gym, talking with people, concerts, going to community theater, trying new restaurants, visiting the local attractions and towns, traveling and checking out the events schedule to see what we can try next. It’s not about how many activities you can do, but finding a few that you have a passion about.

Recommendations for Your
Transition to Retirement

Doing: Try plenty of things. Do things you like. Be brave, try new things. You may find something you didn’t know you liked, until you try it.

“Nothing diminishes anxiety faster than action.” -Walter Anderson

instaquote-05-09-2014-18-26-40Activities: This is key. Do activities you like with other people. In my case it started with taking dance lessons, walking with others, bocce games, but there are endless opportunities.

As they say, don’t just retire from something, retire to something. Let go of that job title mentality, in retirement we don’t care who you used to be, and you won’t either soon.

I would highly recommend doing some activities at your local Active Senior Center. Then you may want to do what we did and move to an Active Retirement Community where you will have more than plenty to do and many friendly people to do them with.

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Finally, remember even if you stumble, you are still moving forward. Most people make the transition very fast and love it.

  • “Today is the first day of the rest of your life.” -Anonymous
  • “All great changes are preceded by chaos.” -Deepak Chopra
  • “If work were so pleasant, the rich would keep it for themselves.” -Mark Twain
  • “All our dreams can come true – if we have the courage to pursue them.” –Walt Disney

 

 

 

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