32-year-old woman moves into a retirement home with her parents, sparking debate

Retirement homes are places where spend the final years of their lives. It is highly unlikely that someone in their early 30s would want to spend their time living in a community of retirees. However, 32-year-old Liz White made a life-changing decision once she spent her 2021 winters in Naples, Florida, visiting her retired parents who lived in a community for seniors with apartment living arrangements. White was so impressed by the environment of the retirement homes that she decided to move there once an apartment became available, per CNBC.

However, each of the senior living arrangements has its own set of eligibility criteria and rules and one needs to be at least 55 years old to reside there. White, who is a customer success manager at a tech firm, had to pay $2,000 a month to rent a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in the building for the first year, but when the landlord of the apartment building put it up for sale, White's parents decided to buy it. Now, White resides in the apartment full-time and when her parents are in town, they stay with her.

White did not reveal how much her parents paid for the apartment, but she told the news outlet that some apartments in the senior living facility go out for as much as $1 million in the market. She also added that she had no financial contribution to the purchase. However, shortly after the purchase, White and her family had to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, which flooded the apartment unit in September 2022. White claims that even though the renovation was hard, it helped the senior neighbors come closer as a community.

"It's been really good to have that sense of community and have people to grow you with different perspectives in life," White told the outlet. "It's also made me more open to meeting new people and not sweating the small stuff. Life is hopefully going to be long and there's a lot of phases to it. If you're going through one hard phase, it's not going to be forever. I felt like it was the worst part of my life forever, but at the end of the day, I got through it." It has been three years since White started living in the apartment. "When you live somewhere where you're not around people, you can keep to yourself and now, I have to be ready because I might have a conversation at any time," White refers to the slight adjustments she had to make. "It was an adjustment at first, but it's become a joy of my life."

Ever since White started living in Naples, she has also ended up growing her friend circle, which consists of young and old folks. She also went on a hiking trip to Austria with two of her neighbors in the summer of 2022. "I think it's in part because the area here is so much older, many of us young people just naturally seek each other out. It's been valuable to make connections with people who are so different from her. I don't just have to be friends with people who have lived the same kind of life I've lived," she concluded. White even documents her life living in the community amongst seniors on her TikTok profile @lizwizdom, where she shared what a typical day in the building complex is like.

White shared how she starts her day, visits the beach and even enjoys a community lunch with her elderly friends during COVID and people online had a few things to say about it. @kaitmyers wrote, "I worked in one of these communities and they are either the nicest or most hateful people. No In-between." @abbeyk4 wondered, "How does this work if you’re going out with friends and then coming back around an aging group community? Covid isn’t a concern for them?" @maple0422 joked, "I feel like being the only 30-year-old would make you the hot topic of gossip amongst the rest." @user2063594278741 added, "My husband and I lived in a community like this rent-free for 3 years as the live-in managers. The library and sweet neighbor brought back memories!"

You can follow Liz White (@lizwizdom) on TikTok for more lifestyle content.