A Continuing Care Retirement Community offers a lifestyle that can support active living while residents remain independent but that gives them security of having standby care available at various levels if, or when, they need that care.

As a general rule in today's market the best value for CCRC living comes for those who move to such communities when they are relatively young since the one time entrance fee is then amortized over a longer period.

The payment of an entrance fee, with rare exceptions, does not provide ownership, nor does it entitle the resident to a voice in the business decisions. (See discussion of these matters by clicking here).

There is a distinct divide between those people who have gotten to know such communities either by visiting friends or by having parents who lived in a CCRC and those who only imagine what CCRC living is without having experienced it.

There is a great variety of CCRC communities and it is important to evaluate the community carefully before moving in. Still, a CCRC has the potential to be the best of all possible worlds, offering the freedom of an adult living community and the standby support of the care services, all on one campus so a person can stay in familiar surroundings as one grows older.