You’ve Earned It ran a Retirement homes and Downsizing survey in April 2023 and the results were very interesting.
Your valuable insights regarding your needs and wants are critical in informing YEI as to what products and services best meet your needs and how YEI can provide a more relevant service to South African 60-plussers.
We surveyed over 370 respondents between the ages of 60 and 87, with respondents from all 9 provinces with those that entered standing a chance to WIN a grocery voucher.
We are very glad to announce that Corinne Gin from the windy city of Gqeberha won a shopping voucher compliments of JustSA. Happy shopping Corinne!
The survey revealed the following:
A whopping 72% of respondents revealed that they still live in their family home with only 15% living in a retirement village or old age home. 6% said that they were currently living with family. Of those that responded only 10% said they are renting.
When it came to the maintenance of their homes 53% said that they do not struggle to maintain their homes while those that do struggle said the biggest hurdles were struggling financially, struggling physically, and that they do not have enough time.
We asked the question “At what stage in life do you think is the ideal time to downsize?” 37% percent said that the best time would be when you are in your 60’s, 24% said in your 70’s and 24% said that it would depend on your circumstances.
A majority of those that responded indicated that they had considered downsizing with 34% saying that had already downsized from their family home, 50% to a smaller flat or cottage and 48% to a Retirement village or home and only 1% moved in with family.
A massive 85% of respondents indicated that they had their names down at their preferred Retirement village or home with 51% saying that their names have been on a waiting list for 3 years or more.
We then asked about Finances and 48% of you said that you had not consulted with your financial advisor regarding the costs involved in moving to a retirement home and how this move would impact your finances and a further 17% said that they did not have a Financial advisor.
Some advise from our readers:
Don’t leave it too late – better to make your own decision rather than have someone else make it for you!
Retirement villages are not ideal for everyone. Living as a community is a mixture of sadness, when a friend passes away, and can also be difficult living in close contact with many people. It is not a decision to take lightly.
It’s a huge decision to make now, for a move that may only happen years down the line given the long waiting list at most retirement facilities.
Its an emotional rollercoaster to decide what to do.
The reality for many of our seniors is echoed in the following statements:
I live for the day!!! Day to day….
I cannot afford a retirement home.
My concern is we are looking after my mother in law and she is 90 years old and very frail, …….. I don’t think there is enough support for those aged if their kids are not in the country.
This was a very interesting survey with the results giving us insight into the needs and wants of the South African senior. Have a look at the results of several other surveys that we have run over the course of 2023 and keep an eye out for the rest of our series.
Thank you once again to JustSA for sponsoring this series.
The next two surveys running are:
Shopping habits which will run in the month of May and can be found here
and
our Travel survey which will run in the month of June which can be found here.
These are both extremely important surveys, the results of which will be shared in due course.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE: Financial wellbeing: What is important to you in retirement and what can you do about it?
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE: An insight into certain lifestyle aspects of South African over-60s
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE: An insight into the Financial Planning of S.A seniors
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE: An insight into the Health and Wellness of South African Seniors
