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Charleston Senior Care Center With 450 Units In The Works; Goose Creek Townhome Site Sold

A new senior care development is planned as part of a 9,000-acre mixed-use community in the Charleston area.

Plans recently submitted to the city show a 450-unit continuing care residential center proposed for a 37-acre parcel on the north side of Clements Ferry Road. The site is across from the Publix-anchored shopping center in Point Hope.

The facility is slated to have 378 independent and assisted living units and 72 memory care rooms in the second phase of Restore at Point Hope.

The first phase calls for 92 single-family units and 66 single-family attached units on 92 acres for senior housing.

The Berry Co. Of Mount Pleasant is listed as the developer. A representative of the firm did not respond for a request for comment.

Plans for both projects are now making their way through the city's approval process.

New townhomes

The developer of the 5,000-acre Nexton master-planned community recently banked land in Goose Creek for a homebuilder that plans to build several hundred townhomes.

An affiliate of California-based Brookfield Residential paid $10.73 million for 40 acres along Planet Road off St. James Avenue.

Brookfield bought the land for Texas-based D.R. Horton, which can build up to 456 townhomes on the property, according to Goose Creek economic development director Rob Wiggins.

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The city annexed the land last December and zoned it for townhome residential development. 

Nexton spokeswoman Cassie Cataline said the development will likely have close to 300 units.

The mostly wooded acreage sits between Greene Pointe mobile home park off Myers Road and The Waters at St. James Apartments off St. James Avenue.

The planned housing development is not part of Nexton, which sits off U.S. Highway 17A and extends from Interstate 26 to U.S. Highway 176.

Coney Island Hot Weiners on Spruill Avenue in North Charleston recently closed after a new entity bought the business and took over the lease. Jim Moring/Provided

Changing hands

The owner of a North Charleston dining venture recently sold the business to a new entity that plans to open a high-end bar at the leased site.

Mike Tuttle sold the business operations of Coney Island Hot Weiners at 4258 Spruill Ave. To Bar Specialists LLC, owned by Kaloni Chaney and a business partner.

The business and the fixture and furnishings changed hands for $180,000, according to Jim Moring of restaurantbrokers.Info, who handled the transaction for the buyer, seller and the property owner, an affiliate of Charleston businessman David Abdo.

Moring said the restaurant closed recently, and the new owners, who took over the remaining six years of the lease for the 1,950-square-foot site, plan to open during the next few months. Chaney did not immediately respond for other details.

Savvy Senior: How A Health Savings Account Can Boost Your Retirement Savings

Dear Savvy Senior,

I'm interested in contributing to a health savings account to help boost my retirement savings but would like to better understand how they work. What can you tell me?

Almost 60

Dear Almost,

A health savings account, or HSA, is a fantastic financial tool that can help you build up a tax-free stash of money for medical expenses now and after you retire. But to qualify, you must be enrolled in a high-deductible health insurance plan. Here's an overview of how they work and how you can open one.

HSA rules

HSAs have become very popular over the past few years as the cost of health care continues to skyrocket, and because more and more Americans have high-deductible health plans.

The great benefit of an HSA is the triple tax advantage that it offers: Your HSA contributions can be deducted pretax from your paycheck, lowering your taxable income; the money in the account grows tax-free; and if you use the money for eligible medical expenses, withdrawals are tax-free.

And if you change jobs, the HSA moves with you.

To qualify, you must have a health insurance policy with a deductible of at least $1,500 for an individual or $3,000 for a family in 2023. In 2024, the deductible rises to $1,600/individual or $3,200/family.

This year, you can contribute up to $3,850 if you have single health insurance coverage, or up to $7,750 for family coverage. Next year (2024) you can contribute significantly more — up to $4,150 for single coverage or up to $8,300 for family coverage. And people age 55 and older can put away an extra $1,000 each year. But you cannot make contributions after you sign up for Medicare.

The money can be used for out-of-pocket medical expenses, including deductibles, co-payments, Medicare premiums, prescription drugs, vision and dental care and other expenses (see IRS.Gov/pub/irs-pdf/p502.Pdf, page 5, for a complete list) either now or when you retire for yourself and your spouse as well as your tax dependents.

Unlike a flexible spending account, an HSA doesn't require you to use the money by the end of the year. Rather, HSA funds roll over year to year and continue to grow tax-free in your HSA account for later use.

In fact, you'll get a bigger tax benefit if you use other cash for current medical expenses and keep the HSA money growing for the long term. Be sure to hold on to your receipts for medical expenses after you open your HSA, even if you pay those bills with cash, so you can claim the expenses later. There's no time limit for withdrawing the money tax-free for eligible medical expenses you incurred any time after you opened the account.

But be aware that if you do use your HSA funds for non-medical expenses, you'll be required to pay taxes on the withdrawal, plus a 20 percent penalty. The penalty, however, is waived for those 65 and older, but you'll still pay ordinary income tax on withdraws not used for eligible expenses.

How to open an HSA

You should first check with your employer to see if they offer an HSA, and if they will contribute to it. If not, you can open an HSA through many banks, brokerage firms and other financial institutions, as long as you have a qualified high-deductible health insurance policy.

If you plan to keep the money growing for the future, look for an HSA administrator that offers a portfolio of mutual funds for long-term investing and has low fees. Some of the top-rated HSA providers in 2023 are Lively, HealthEquity, OptumBank, Fidelity, HSA Bank and Bank of America.

After setting up your HSA plan, adding money is pretty straightforward. Most plans let you do online transfers from your bank, send checks directly, or set up a payroll deduction if offered by your employer. To access your HSA funds many plans provide a debit card and most allow for reimbursement.

Jim Miller, Savvy Senior columnist

Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.Org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of "The Savvy Senior" book.

Senior Living: What Long-term Care Looks Like Around The World

By Jordan Rau, KFF Health News

Around the world, wealthy countries are struggling to afford long-term care for rapidly aging populations.

Most spend more than the United States through government funding or insurance that individuals are legally required to obtain. Some protect individuals from exhausting all their income or wealth paying for long-term care. But as in the United States, middle-class and affluent individuals in many countries can bear a substantial portion of the costs. Here's how five other countries pay for long-term care.

Japan

Long-term care insurance is mandatory for Japanese citizens age 40 and over, while in the United States only a small portion of people voluntarily obtain coverage. Half the funding for Japan's program comes from tax revenues and half from premiums.

Older adults contribute 10% to 30% of the cost of services, depending on their income, and insurance picks up the rest. There is a maximum amount people must spend from their income before the insurance covers the remainder of the cost.

Workers can also take up to 93 days of paid leave to help relatives with long-term care needs. Japan assigns a care manager to each person using services; each manager oversees about 40 older adults. In 2020, Japan spent 2% of its gross domestic product on long-term care, 67% more than the United States spent that year.

The Netherlands

The Dutch have included long-term care in their universal health care system since 1968.

One public insurance program pays for nursing homes and other institutional settings, and another pays for nursing and personal care at home. Enrollment is mandatory.

Dutch taxpayers contribute nearly 10% of their income toward insurance premiums, up to a set amount. Out-of-pocket payments amount to about 7% of the cost of institutional care. General taxes pay for a third program in which municipalities provide financial assistance and social support for older people living at home.

There is no private long-term care insurance. The Netherlands spent 4.1% of its gross domestic product on long-term care in 2021, more than any other country tracked by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and four times the amount the United States spent.

Canada

Provinces and territories fund long-term care services through general tax revenue.

Money budgeted is not always enough to cover all services, and some localities give priority to those with the greatest needs. The amount of subsidies people can receive, the costs they have to pay out-of-pocket, and the availability of services vary by province and territory, as they do in the United States with state Medicaid programs.

The mix of providers also varies regionally: Nursing home care in Quebec, for example, is mostly run by a public system while homes in Ontario are mostly for-profit. Notably, Canada's long-term care system is separate from its national health care system, which pays for hospitals and doctors with no out-of-pocket costs to patients.

In 2021, Canada spent 1.8% of its GDP on long-term care, 80% more than the United States spent.

United Kingdom

Local authorities pay for most long-term care through taxes and central government grants. Private providers usually supply services.

Government contributions are based on financial need, with copayments usually required. As in the United States, middle-class and wealthy people pay most or all of the costs themselves. Unlike in the United States, the government provides payments directly to lower-income people so they can hire workers to care for them in their homes.

The U.K. Has also taken steps to shield people from losing all their wealth to pay for long-term care. It subsidizes care for people with savings and property of less than about $30,000, while in the United States most people don't qualify for Medicaid until they have run through all but $2,000 to $3,000 of their assets.

In 2022, the British government proposed extending subsidies to people who have as much as $105,000 of wealth and property, with a lifetime cap of about $100,000 on how much anyone spends on long-term medical care, excluding room and board in a nursing home. But the plan has been postponed until 2025.

In 2021, the United Kingdom spent 1.8% of its GDP on long-term care, 80% more than the United States did.

Singapore

Singapore recently instituted a system of mandatory long-term care insurance for those born in 1980 or later.

Citizens and permanent residents are automatically enrolled in an insurance plan called CareShield Life, starting at age 30. They must pay premiums until they retire or turn 67 (whichever comes later) or are approved to use services. The government subsidizes 20% to 30% of premiums for those who earn around $2,000 a month or less. Monthly payouts start at about $440.

Government subsidies for nursing homes and other institutional care can range from 10% to 75%, depending on ability to pay. Those who make more than $2,000 a month receive no subsidies. CareShield is optional for Singaporeans born in 1979 or earlier; they are covered under an older, voluntary plan.

Singapore also provides a means-tested monthly cash grant — this year about $290 — to help with caregiving expenses

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

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