RETIREMENT VILLAGES are becoming more fashionable now with the amount of baby boomers retiring. It is important to differentiate between a few terms applied to this idea

Wikipedia describes a retirement residence as a multi-residence housing facility that is intended for older people. The typical pattern scenario is that every person or couple in the dwelling has an apartment-style room or suite of rooms. And additional amenities are provided within the building. Habitually this includes facilities for meals, meeting, recreation, and some type of health or hospice care. The level of care these facilities varies enormously. Accommodation in retirement homes can be paid for on a rental basis, similar to an apartment, or can be paid for in perpetuity on the same basis the same as a condominium.

In actual fact, a retirement residence differs from a nursing habitat mainly in the extent of medical care given. On the other hand, retirement villages and retirement communities, not like retirement homes, offer separate and independent homes for residents plus more.

A retirement community or retirement villages, is an awfully broad, generic term that covers many varieties of housing for retirees and seniors.  They are especially designed or geared for people who no longer work,or restricted to those over a certain age. A retirement Village differs from a retirement home which is frequently a single building or small complex where no “common areas” for socializing is present.

The majority of retirement villages are planned for that purpose, and have particular facilities catering to the needs and wishes of retirees, including extensive facilities like clubhouses, swimming pools, arts and crafts, boating, trails, golf courses, active adult retail and on-site medical amenities.

Other facilities contain no or exceptionally few common amenities. An Age-controlled community by and large requires at least one household occupier to be 55 plus years of age or older (occasionally 50+ or 60+ years of age).

There are actually three general categories of retirement communities

1.  ACTIVE communities (the whole residential units, no long-term healthcare facilities – also known as “independent living communities”

2.  ACTIVE/SUPPORTIVE communities (a grouping of residential and healthcare facilities – also recognized as “continuing care retirement communities” – CCRC)

3.  SUPPORTIVE communities (all long term health care units, similar to assisted living facilities or nursing homes)

Because more and more healthier and younger people are retiring now the main focus I believe is on the active communities or independent living.

Retirement Villages are often built in temperate climates, and are widespread in loads of countries.

A number of publishers have built lists of the 100 top retirement communities or 100 best places (or towns) to retire. However, these lists are not complete and habitually obsolete.  Furthermore, a lot of of these lists are concentrated on exact Retirement Villages in their prospective countries.  Furthermore, many of these retirement villages are targeted towards high income earners (the elderly and the rich).

Many countries are experiencing the same phenomena with the elderly at the moment.  Take for instance, New Zealand with almost half a million people over the age of 65 in a 2001 census.  I would envision today in 2010 there are like over a million people above the age of 65.  Insert this number to worldwide consensus and you have an enormous amount of people in this age grouping.  This is essentially due to the baby boomer age and healthy lifestyles.

The progress in retirement villages as an accommodation
Everyday life and care option is definitely a reaction to this shifting demographic profile. The village component is obviously a search for an alternative to old age homes of the past.
Community and reasonably priced lodging within essentials of security rank very well with people’s aspirations.

For instance in the United Kingdom retirement villages are becoming more and more widespread.  According to a recent BBC account (Aug 2009) there are in the order of 25,000 people across the UK at this time living within a retirement village model

Nurses, caregivers and visiting doctors are an important part of a lot of village operations, while community centers, bowling greens, a swimming pool and billiard tables are a normal recreational feature.

I have done some extensive travel searching for a good place for me to retire.  My main concern was regarding expenses because I have a small pension to live on.  Initially, I was interested in the region near Lake Chapala located 45 km southeast of Guadalajara, Mexico.  Picture perfect weather and great culture but since of the invasion of foreigners the cost to live there is nearly the equivalent as it is my own country.  I passed on this option.

In addition, I thought of Arizona and Florida as I was a snow bird for a few years.  I passed on this alternative because of the expenditure issue also.

In the end, I decided on Colombia.  I traveled to Colombia to attempt my retirement there.  I tried Bogotá, Medellin and Cali.  I found that my pension went a long way there.  I treasured the country and its people, however I had difficulty learning Spanish and this made it problematical to get on with my daily errands.

Subsequently one day I was chatting to man who told me about the Philippines.  He mentioned the low cost of living in the Philippines and the fact that most Filipinos spoke English.  He went on to say that the English language was on all signs, menus and legal documents.  In Colombia I had a difficult time just opening up my cable account.

Later, soon after meeting this man I made up my mind, sold all my possessions and trotted off to the Philippines.  At the end of the day, I found my home where life is unproblematic and inexpensive.

Below is a sample budget of my cost of living in the Philippines:

Housing (rental of a luxury three-bedroom apartment): $250 monthly
Utilities (including, phone, Internet, and cable television): $100 monthly
Maid (twice a week): $10
Cook (twice a week): $10
Groceries: $150
Water $12 a month
I rent a new Yamaha scooter for $125 a month.  Gas is around $20 a month.
A beer is around 60 cents in the store and $1 in the bar.
1 kilo Italian style tomatoes in the marketplace 12 cents
1 kilo fresh water fish in the market $140 1 kilo
Clothing: $20 a month.  No need to wear shoes or slacks here.  Most of us wear shorts and sandals

Entertainment (two people dining out eight times a month at top restaurants or other entertainment): $200.  I take my girlfriend out to a place she likes and it costs me $4 for the two of us.  I take her to an upscale restaurant and she doesn’t like it.  My costs for dinning out is around $30 total.

Health care (four $30 visits to a physician per year for two people, divided by 12 months): $20

Author Will Irwin who is at present writing his next book ‘The Coming Real Estate Boom in the Philippines’ states that one of the most reasonable places to retire is the Philippines.

Irwin goes further stating that there are a few ‘secret’ places in the Philippines that are developing fast with new retirement villages for expats.

According to Mr. Irwin  one of the best places to retire overseas has to be the Philippines as it is rising fast at this moment. This is the one of the premium places to retire overseas because of the low cost of living at the same time as the environment are as beautiful as Boracay which has 1 million visitors per year.

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