Senior Housing and Assisted Living

The government of Canada and Ontario recently announced the funding of approximately $4.8 million for 40 new affordable housing rental units for seniors and persons with disabilities.  These 40 affordable rental units are part of an 80-unit project with approximately $4.8 million in federal and provincial funding is complemented by $10.1 million in municipal financial incentives.  The Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program Agreement comprises a commitment of $301 million from each of the two senior levels of government. In total, the federal, provincial and municipal governments will invest at least $734 million in the program, which will provide affordable housing for up to 20,000 households in Ontario.

"Locally, this achievement gives a hand-up to individuals and families who need safe, affordable housing that meets their needs," said Minister Raitt. "Our government is investing in this project to get the local economy moving, creating immediate jobs and economic stimulus for the community."

Thinking about retiring in Mexico?   How about developing senior housing and living product south of the border?  The opportunities exist but major challenges remain to make retiring south of the US border a slam dunk.  A group of business executives known as AMAR held a conference in San Antonio this past weekend to promote development of senior living in Mexico.  The group consisted of consumers, marketing professionals, real estate developers and various finance professionals and had sessions for both business representatives and consumers.  The conference was primarily spoken in Spanish with translation to English as the majority of attendees were from Mexico.  Some of the key take aways from the conference were:

• All owners and operators consistently stated that costs are 50-60% less in Mexico than in the US or Canada for physical development & final costs.  This was a consistent subject when listening to different developers in all parts of Mexico. 
• Healthcare solutions exist at various price ranges throughout the country including coverage for catastrophic emergencies depending on Visa status
• Most developments are for independent living (i.e.  homes and fractional residences)
• Proximity to Airports and Border are critical.
• Safety.  Despite the press, retirement in Mexico remains safe.  Presenters stated that the conflict exists between the druglords and the federales / police, not the retirees.
• Some developers are repositioning their properties as retirement locations rather than second home destinations.  Sales pitch is still resort lifestyle with CCRC type of amenities.
• Connectivity.  Researchers state those who are retired in Mexico today are in communication telephonically and via the Internet on a regular basis not much different than in the US.
• Medicare in Mexico.  This is the most critical part to explosive growth for retirement in Mexico.  While there are initiatives to bring Medicare from the US to Mexico, participants stated that this is a big wish.  Access to healthcare providers is top priority in those looking at retiring and those who already have retired in Mexico.

Final thoughts:  Retiring Mexico is a good alternative if you are looking for a temperate retirement, are mobile, in reasonably good health and have a sense for adventure.  There are groups of Americans retiring and living in Mexico in growing numbers so finding a community with Gringos is not out of the picture.  For development, until there is some kind of relationship between the US and Mexico for medical coverage (think NAFTA for healthcare…), Mexican retirement is a niche that is a viable alternative for a small group of American retirees.

Look for a few follow up articles from the conference focusing more specifically on segments of retiring in Mexico.

Senior Housing News is on the move next few weeks covering two exciting events in San Antonio, Texas and New York City.  First stop is this Friday and Saturday at the Mexican Association for Retirement Assistance’s “2B Alive Life Style Communities” and its “Ventana de Mexico” Expo in San Antonio, Texas.  The organization promotes how and where to retire in Mexico and has portions for both consumers and for business executives. 

The second event is a marketing conference entitled “Beyond Boomers” which will spend a day examining building business strategies that focus on reaching the Baby Boomer demographic.  The conference includes topics such as "Transformational Communities: Building Relevance and Quality of Life for Boomers" and "Silver, Social Surfers: Silver Surfers’’Attitudes Toward and Usage of Social Media". 

If you’ll be in attendance and would like to set up a time to meet, drop me a line.  george@seniorhousingnews.com

Quieres retirar en México?  The International Community Foundation has released a study entitled “U.S. Retirement Trends in Mexico’s Coastal Communities: Lifestyle Priorities and Demographics” that interviewed 840 U.S. retirees in coastal areas of Mexico over 50 years of age.  Some of the findings of the survey include:

• U.S. retirees in Mexican coastal communities are relatively young and well-educated. Nearly 53 percent are under 65 years of age. Almost two-thirds have at least a college degree; another 28 percent attended at least one year of college.
• U.S. retirees residing in Mexico continue to maintain strong ties to the U.S. with 50 percent still considering the United States as their primary country of residence; almost 22 percent return to the U.S. on a monthly basis.
• Almost 44 percent of Americans residing in Mexican coastal communities were able to live comfortably on less than $1,000 a month for household expenses. This is significantly different from the U.S. where in California, a senior might need $21,000-27,000/year.
• U.S. retirees already in Mexico have weathered the recent economic storm well. Forty two percent stated that the economic recession had no impact on their retirement plans and 34 percent said their quality of life has not been impacted.
• In spite of growing concerns in the United States about narco-violence in Mexico’s border cities, only 7 percent of retirees surveyed reported that public safety and security concerns have reduced the frequency or duration of their trips to Mexico.

The Technology Strategy Board announced its commitment to supporting innovation in Assisted Living by stating it will invest £6.5 million in six collaborative research and development projects to be completed by 2012/2013 that will develop new technologies to help the elderly and those with long-term health conditions. The projects will address the need for health and care technologies to embrace the changing telecommunications environment. While many of the sensors that will be required for remote health and care services are available now, the six research and development projects will look to combine these with advanced telecommunications. 

The public sector investment of £6.5m includes £1m from the Department of Health National Institute for Health Research and over £900,000 to participating universities from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.            

“Our aim is to support the development of technologies that will lead towards truly independent living for those with long-term conditions and the elderly. In the longer term, the opportunities are for the development of entirely new services in which health and care follow the individual and are delivered wherever and whenever needed,” said Graham Worsley, who leads the Technology Strategy Board’s Assisted Living Innovation Platform.

Ageing Asia Investment Forum (AAIF2010) last week hosted business leaders from 16 countries and 26 business sectors including real estate, healthcare, wellness, finance, planning and architecture are meeting for a two‐day business
conference, in a bid to tap opportunities and seek solutions to Asia’s imminent ‘ageing crisis’.  The conference had presentations from executives in the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, China, India, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore to identify some of the best in class solutions for each country.

According to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, by 2050, Asia Pacific will be home to almost two‐thirds of the world’s ageing population of over 60. In a UBS report (24 June, 2008) which provides insights into key investment issues in Asia and the material implications of ageing on the region, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea are all expected to be among the 10 fastest ageing countries globally.

For a copy of the event’s keynote speech, click here.

IBM (NYSE:IBM) and the University of Tokyo (RCAST) recently announced a new collaborative research initiative to explore an open, common user interface platform for mobile devices, to make them easier to use for disadvantaged populations around the world through its Open Collaborative Research program .  The aim of the collaborative research is to make the internet more accessible to those who are illiterate, blind, deaf, or elderly to access digital information provided by business and governemtns.  IBM researchers in Tokyo and the human information engineering research team, led by Professor Tohru Ifukube of RCAST, will place their research focus on Japan’s elderly population, where the aging rate is growing at a rapid pace, making Japan the world’s most elderly population. With IBM’s accessibility technology expertise and RCAST’s expertise, they will work directly with the elderly to investigate and determine real-life requirements of elderly people when using mobile devices.

"New technologies and various new services will continue to emerge, and mobile devices will become a window of opportunity for us to engage with information anytime anyplace," said Professor Tohru Ifukube of RCAST. "With IBM’s expertise in accessibility technologies and mobile web technologies, coupled with our expertise in five-senses communication and NID’s interface design expertise, we are looking forward to develop inclusive technologies for elderly population to help improve quality of life."

"Through this collaborative research initiative, we will uncover real information accessibility requirements and issues that the elderly and people in developing economies are facing today," said Chieko Asakawa, IBM Fellow and chief technology officer of IBM’s accessibility research. "By focusing on mobile devices, which have a tremendous potential to empower them, we believe the findings will help us offer affordable services to a large population, who are still deprived of access to key information sources."

KeyInvest, an Australian retirement village owner / operator, announced the purchase of a large parcel of land in the regional city of Horsham, Victoria, where development of a retirement village to be known as Wimmera Lodge.  Plans include development of up to 88 two and three bedroom villas to be developed in two stages under the ownership and management of KeyInvest.  Villas are expected to be priced from the low $200,000’s making this an exceptional value for money lifestyle.  This site, once fully developed, will boost KeyInvest’s total retirement living portfolio to around 400 retirement homes in six locations.

“Each of the villas will provide high quality retirement living accommodation a few minutes from Horsham’s main street,”  said KeyInvest’s Managing Director, Mr Ian Campbell.  “Over the coming years Wimmera Lodge will provide fantastic opportunities for retirees to enjoy brand new, affordable homes and also provide a boost for businesses and employment.”

This was too good to pass up…Skandia, a UK investment and insurance company, released the results of a study of 3,000 Brits that revealed that 51 per cent are worried about how they are going to fund their retirement years.  More than a third are waiting for some inheritance money, and one in ten are hoping for a big lottery win and six per cent even plan to marry someone rich instead of actually having to save for the days when they no longer work.  The study also goes on to show that respondents are interested in downsizing to smaller properties.

"Things can always change and the inheritance may go down in value or even disappear altogether, and the lottery and competition prizes are a pipe-dream for most of us, so it’s always good to have a real plan in place,” said spokeswoman Michelle Cracknell from Skandia.

For more results from the study, visit Skandia.

With the tragedy of the earthquake in Haiti and the more recent one in Chile, many media outlets have provided coverage of the struggle of those in nursing homes in those areas who were not only trapped immediately after the natural disasters but in the ensuing weeks after the quakes.  One of the best articles we’ve seen on this was the Washington Post article, “Old and poor in Haiti suffer mightily after the quake” shows the dire needs of elders in Haiti which was published this past weekend.  Check it out.