Many families have experienced the confusion, the emotional stress and spent the hours trying to find the right seniors housing for themselves, an elderly parent, in-law or relative. For all the resources available in the world of health care, finding appropriate seniors housing can be difficult. Paul Buitenhuis of Next Habitat Advisors has experienced this first hand. "When my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, I began a long process of finding a new home for her. I was also doing this while working a full time job. I saw places that I should have never been looking at and had no clue what questions to ask. I thought there must be a better way. We created Next Habitat Advisors to focus on assisting seniors and their families make the best choices for their future while relieving the stress of a very stressful experience."
Two Services:
Next Habitat Advisors offers Retirement Housing Planning which will assist a couple or individual understand the costs and options of seniors housing as one builds their retirement plan. With this information they can better direct their fi nancial planner, estate lawyer and insurance broker. And Seniors Housing Placement focused on fi nding the right seniors housing based on a client's needs, lifestyle, preferred location, budget and timing.
Seniors Housing Retirement Planning
An issue that is often overlooked when planning for retirement is the cost of seniors housing. Some financial advisors will say that the sale of the family home will be sufficient to cover these costs.
This may or may not be the right assumption.
Next Habitats' assessment process and proprietary data base enables clients to understand the options and costs of housing as they age. This picture will consider such issues as the costs of living in their own home, contracting in-home care, moving into independent living, assisted living, complex care and hospice care communities.
Once a clearer picture is available, Next Habitat clients can work with their financial advisor to better structure their portfolio to meet future housing needs, work with their estate lawyer to document a retirement plan and begin a dialogue with family members focused implementing the plan. Mr. Buitenhuis' goal is to provide information that enriches family dialogue and assists in making the right decisions.
Seniors Housing Placement
Next Habitat acts as the bridge between the consumer and those who operate seniors housing. Through a thorough understanding of the seniors housing market in specifi c geographic areas like the North Shore, Next Habitat can provide objective information around what community would make the most sense for an individual or couple.
A Next Habitat advisors will meet a client in their home to complete a detailed assessment focused on health, cognitive and mobility issues, housing and service needs, lifestyle, location preferences and budget.
Once the advisor has a clear understanding of needs, they develop a list of communities that may be a match and then, after consultation with the client, a short list of 2 or 3 communities is agreed on.
After touring the short listed communities, a decision is made and the advisor will negotiate the lease on behalf of the client.
As the need for seniors housing increases planning for and finding the right seniors housing will become more and more important. Paul Buitenhuis says Next Habitat is being built on a foundation of empathy and understanding. This philosophy was recognized by a client of Next Habitat; "Next Habitat worked with my mother in law, husband and brother in law to clearly define her needs. Then we were able to see the options available and get to a short list quickly. Based on her needs and what she saw and felt in the communities we looked at, my mother in law's fi nal decision was simple to make. Through the process, Next Habitat was empathetic, understanding and maintained a clear line-of-site to the end result. We all wanted to reduce the risk of making a mistake by putting her in the wrong place. Next Habitat helped us navigate through a confusing and risky decision making process."
For information on Next Habitat Advisors, visit www.nexthabitatadvisors.com
