How Much Does a Retirement Residence Cost near Oakville or Mississauga? Part Three

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After I visited three retirement homes to the west of Toronto recently, I wrote some general information about the costs and the specifics of the costs at one building. In this continuing saga, I’m going to discuss the costs for a one-bedroom retirement residence suite at a building in Oakville that also offers memory care units.

What Does It Cost to Live at Retirement Residence #2 In Oakville with No Health Care Provided?

I’m leery of naming the residences on my personal website as I’m not sure of the legality of displaying their prices by name. So I’ll just call the three I visited #1-3.

These articles are meant to help you estimate the prices and the services offered by retirement residences. You’ll still have to visit them to see what you think of the rooms, social offerings, menus and care. Prices can vary depending on the occupancy rate and inflation.

These prices were described in February 2018.

I asked first about the cost of a one-bedroom suite with 2 people sharing in a retirement apartment. Three meals and snacks are included. A weekly housekeeping visit with linen change is included. Social activities and fitness activities are included. A 24-hour alarm system is included.

Costs ranged from $5 100 to $5 740 per month

This cost included cable for TV, telephone service and internet access in the suite, unlike at some of their competitors.

What Does It Cost to Live at Retirement Residence #2 In Oakville with Minimal Health Care Assistance?

I was surprised that the Sales person at this residence said that for minor care, the residents could apply through CCAC for free hours of support. I am not sure how easily that can be achieved.

What Does It Cost to Live at Retirement Residence #2 In Oakville with Assisted Care?

Again, I had difficulty getting specific numbers from the Sales person for additional care costs.

Some prices mentioned were

  • Incontinence care $600 per month including the diapers
  • Escorting to meals and activities from $450 per month
  • Simple assistance in the morning with getting out of bed and dressed from $150 per month.

I would have to get more details and a realistic idea of whether publicly-funded support hours were available before I could get a realistic total cost estimate.

What Does It Cost to Live at Retirement Residence #2 In Oakville with Memory Care?

The Memory Care floor at this residence was highly populated already, unlike the rest of the newly opened building.

These suites are small studios meant for a single person.

The cost was $5 320 per month.

I’m not clear how much the additional charges are for personal support. Residents in the Memory Care area vary from those needing only supervision and prompting to those requiring a great deal of support, so I’m sure there are variances in the costs.

What Other Costs Do I Need to Consider When Budgeting for a Retirement Residence?

The costs of the rooms and services are obviously very high. Be sure to review the other costs you should include in your budget. I’ve described some of them in the previous post (Part 2).

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Is My Money In Savings Accounts and GICs At Simplii Financial Protected by CDIC Insurance?

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Simplii Financial is the new name for what used to be called President’s Choice Financial. It’s also a somewhat new business and is owned and run by CIBC. Recently I read a question about what kind of CDIC insurance Simplii Financial offered on cash deposits and guaranteed investment certificates so I decided to check.

Be Careful Of the Insurance Maximums If You Have Money at CIBC and Money at Simplii Financial

First, deposits at Simplii Financial are insured by the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation, CDIC.

HOWEVER, the limit of $100 000 we’re all so used to reading applies to any money you have in that type of account at both CIBC and Simplii Financial, because they are both insured under one policy.

For example,

we have

  • a joint CIBC chequing account
  • a joint Simplii Financial chequing account
  • a joint Simplii Financial savings account

We are only insured up to $100 000 deposited in total in those accounts. If we bought any regular GICs at CIBC or Simplii Financial, those would also be insured only if the total of the 3 bank accounts and all of the GICs was $100 000 or less.

Because CDIC treats your money the same if it’s at CIBC or at Simplii Financial, which is part of CIBC, you may want to make sure you understand the maximums and don’t exceed them if you bank with both institutions.

Are Tangerine and ScotiaBank Accounts Insured Together To One CDIC Maximum Also?

No.

I checked whether this was also the case with Tangerine. After all the Bank of Nova Scotia bought out Tangerine.

But no, they have separate CDIC insurance. So you can reach the $100 000 limit on, say a savings account at ScotiaBank and also reach the $100 000 limit on another savings account at Tangerine and you will be insured separately to the full amount on each of them.

We don’t bank with BNS so we never checked this before. I’m glad I learned about the limits on CIBC/Simplii Financial though. It’s unlikely I’d ever have more than $100 000 in the two banks but better to know now that find out the hard way later that we’re not fully insured!

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Do you keep money at both CIBC and Simplii Financial? Did you know you had to keep the totals across the 2 banks in the different categories under $100 000 each? Please share your experiences with a comment.