LOS ANGELES: Baby boomers housing preferences are shifting and this is having an impact on whether they will wish to age in place in the future, says a recent report.
Two generations ago, seniors stayed in their homes for as long as physically possible, leaving only when physical infirmity or medical needs arose, in which case they would relocate to a skilled nursing home. But with the rise of senior living communities over the past several decades, more older adults have opted to (and continue to) live in senior housing facilities than prior generations—a shift that has largely to do with personal wealth.
Wealth can have different effects on seniors’ housing choices. Higher levels of wealth allow an older adult to afford a greater range of accommodations, while also allowing them to pay for services that make it possible to age in place rather than move into shared living or senior living environments.
While this suggests a negative relationship between wealth and the probability of residing in a senior living facility, on the other hand, many large-scale senior housing communities require an entrance fee or purchase, thus limiting residency to those with sufficient financial resources as these fees can range anywhere between $100,000 to $1 million.
Seniors living in multifamily residences typically have the lowest net worth of all the types of housing, while single-family heads of household generally are among the wealthiest.
The median net worth among multifamily is between one and two times the national median among the older groups, while the median net worth among those living in single-family homes is four to five times the national median across the age groups.
Whereas in earlier decades the decision to move to senior living was triggered by a health care need, today that choice is increasingly motivated by other lifestyle considerations…