Many retirees aim to “retire with confidence,” but rising costs in retirement villages can make that harder than expected. Legislation in most states sets rules for how operators charge residents, and key fees are often capped to increase only by consumer price index (CPI). But there are loopholes: some charges are exempt, and operators can seek above-CPI increases through a special resolution.

This can give a false sense of security. In my village, total annual charges have risen about 31.5 per cent over the past three years – and it would have been higher if residents hadn’t voted down a proposed increase. A special resolution needs 75 per cent approval to pass, and in this case, it didn’t. So the question is: are retirement village residents really protected from large increases just because fees are “tied to CPI”?

For retirees in aged care, rising costs can start to weigh you down.Credit: Simon Letch

Aged Care Guru Rachel points out that the ongoing cost of a retirement village (often called a general service charge or recurrent charge) are subject to tight controls. While each of the state-based legislation has some differences the universal rule across them is that the ongoing fee must operate on a cost recovery basis.

Unfortunately, some of the costs within those........

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