Retirement Woes

[pfeiffep]

My wife and I have been planning for about a year and a half on moving into a retirement community which offered full lifecare options.

We had paid a fully refundable application fee, made many visits to choose our new home. We were notified that a duplex cottage became available and we were first on the list to accept or refuse.
After another visit we thought that this cottage would suite us just fine. We paid the 10% fully refundable deposit, hired an interior decocorator to help us down size from 3500 square feet to 1700,
choose colors, fabrics, floor coverings, appliances etc. We listed our home and started to down size by selling our piano and second car.

We presentded our financial situation at the beginning of our process, and with every meeting we we assured that the health evaluation was the next big hurdle (btw we both passed with flying colors).

On Friday we were informed that we did NOT financially qualify.

When confronted about the methods used and that my financial plan indicated that my wife and I had sufficient funds to last until we were 100 the CFO simply stated that they used their own methods and tables. He went on to apologize and state that they had made a mistake in not catching this earlier in our process. He's refunding all of our money with interest and paying for the expenses incurred with the interior designer.

We're now starting our planning over (goals haven't changed, but the methods to achieve most certainly have) ...

The lesson here that I learned is make certain of the exact methods and tools a third party uses that might provide drastically different results from your own.

I believe this was an honest mistake or oversight and not caused by any type of discrimination other than financial.

I'm really glad that we DIDN'T sell our house or furnitureand be living on the street.):P

[sammiev]

Very sorry to hear about the woes you have encountered and hope in the coming years I do not have the same problems as my goals seem to be a lot like yours.

[d-cosner]

It's that retirement communities loss, not yours really. You have planned well for your retirement, especially where finances are concerned. You will find something better! At least you did get all of the money invested back with interest.

[pfeiffep]

Thanks for the kind comments.
Today I recieved a notification from my credit card company they were providing free credit scores; so I logged in and found out that mine was 851.
The scale they use: 250 to 900. Not that I needed extra validation, but it's nice to know!

[makitso]

I suspect that it had nothing to do with your credit score or financials. Their actuary (?) probably determined that you did not have enough net worth to meet their expenses over your projected lifespan. They should have provided you, at the beginning of the process, with a chart of ages and minimum net worth to apply.

[pfeiffep]

Yes exactly. The fully refundable application fee of $1000 didn't bother me, but when they asked for and accepted the $50,000 deposit they should have at least provided me with with such a chart.
I'm not certain if it was gross neglience, mis-communication, or just an extremely poor application process. The good news is I'm being kept as financially whole as I can expect.

[QIII]

For a $50k deposit they should have wagged their tails, jumped through flaming hoops and brought you your slippers!,

[deadflowr]

Yes exactly. The fully refundable application fee of $1000 didn't bother me, but when they asked for and accepted the $50,000 deposit they should have at least provided me with with such a chart.
I'm not certain if it was gross neglience, mis-communication, or just an extremely poor application process. The good news is I'm being kept as financially whole as I can expect.

I guess you can say that's your saving grace through it all.
At least they weren't con artists.

[AllenGG]

Wow! It has been a long time since hearing of that scheme. I thought it was dead.
My background> business consultant, financial management, banking and finance.
Strange that you should post your story here. First, fortune shines upon you, you were not caught.
I am long past retirement age, and never really retired. But I am still involved with financial consulting.
First, go on vacation to a retirement area, NOT a retirement community. Talk to people with money, not those struggling to make ends meet.
I am not rich, but we live very well. Plan at least one month away, stay away from the golfing communities.

[sammiev]

I guess you can say that's your saving grace through it all.
At least they weren't con artists.

I think they con them from their dreams.

[pfeiffep]

Thanks to all for the support. I really wanted to share the overview and lesson I learned ...
The lesson here that I learned is make certain of the exact methods and tools a third party uses that might provide drastically different results from your own.

[kevdog]

It's nice you actually posted this here in the forums since such topics are usually not discussed. I suspect what happened, was that the guy promised you everything, but didn't send your financial situation to the actuaries until very late in the process. This error would be more on the side of incompetence than deceit or fraud. It's probably good you unfortunately exposed the management style of this community prior to moving in, since I suspect other needs that may have arisen in the future would be addressed with the same sloppy style. I concede your point that they probably used a different analysis than your own, however this doesn't excuse the fact they deferred to this analysis so late in the process. They should have told you much earlier in the process if you didn't qualify. In addition, I suspect the gentleman that promised you everything up front couldn't explain their methods of analysis since he doesn't perform this type of work, and the people that do are hidden away in some distant dark room pledged never to tell anyone their methods with the threat of losing their job hung over their heads.

It's too bad what happened to you, however it seems like the resolution at this point was about as favorable to you as it could be.

Good luck to you in the future. It's never ever to late to learn lessons in life it seems, no matter what age you are.

[leclerc65]

Pay cash for everything. If I cannot afford it ... abstain.
Don't worry about anything ... why worry ? When I die, I cannot bring anything with me.:p

[pfeiffep]

It's nice you actually posted this here in the forums since such topics are usually not discussed. I suspect what happened, was that the guy promised you everything, but didn't send your financial situation to the actuaries until very late in the process. This error would be more on the side of incompetence than deceit or fraud. It's probably good you unfortunately exposed the management style of this community prior to moving in, since I suspect other needs that may have arisen in the future would be addressed with the same sloppy style. I concede your point that they probably used a different analysis than your own, however this doesn't excuse the fact they deferred to this analysis so late in the process. They should have told you much earlier in the process if you didn't qualify. In addition, I suspect the gentleman that promised you everything up front couldn't explain their methods of analysis since he doesn't perform this type of work, and the people that do are hidden away in some distant dark room pledged never to tell anyone their methods with the threat of losing their job hung over their heads.

It's too bad what happened to you, however it seems like the resolution at this point was about as favorable to you as it could be.

Good luck to you in the future. It's never ever to late to learn lessons in life it seems, no matter what age you are.Thank you for your response and well considered points! I'm posting in hopes that my experiences might help others!

The organization is a private, religious based community that has existed for 25 years. They are a certified lifecare community CARF-CCAC accreditation
(http://carf.org/aging/)
Only 12 percent of the Continuing Care Retirement Communities in America earn CARF-CCAC accreditation.


I was talking with the CFO of the organization. He did explain to me that this situation SHOULD have been identified MUCH earlier in the process!
I provided him with our professionally compiled retirement plan which explicitly stated that we had a 95% chance of living at our current quality of life to 100; additionally I provided him with all the details of our retirement investments. I am educated to some extent about finances, but certainly not to go head-head with a CFO and challenge his findings.