Boomers adopt retiree lifestyles while still working

Dallas Morning News

DALLAS — Like other empty-nesters, Marty and Cindy Hoover felt lost in their big house in Flower Mound, Texas. And as one of the few couples on their block without school-age children, they also found they had little in common with their neighbors anymore.

So the Hoovers traded their empty bedrooms for a new home at Robson Ranch, an active-adult community in Denton, where residents lead a resortlike lifestyle that includes golf, workouts at the fitness center and block parties with neighbors.

The couple, who are in their late 40s and continue to work, represent a new and growing breed of residents at active-adult communities.

Not long ago, nearly all residents were retired. But in recent years, more couples and singles still years from retirement have moved in and are pursuing their careers amid the boccie ball tournaments.

“Baby boomers are buying their retirement homes sometimes as much as a decade before retirement,” said Dan Owens, executive director of the National Active Retirement Association, a trade group. “They want the lifestyle, even if it’s only on weekends.”

During the workweek, Marty Hoover continues to run his lawn-treatment business and call on clients throughout the Denton area. His wife commutes to her executive assistant’s job in Lewisville.

But the two no longer feel like social outcasts. Cindy, in fact, helped organize Robson Ranch’s baby boomer club. Club members, who must have been born between 1946 and 1964, regularly get together for dinner at area restaurants.

“I’d like to play more golf and get involved in other activities, but I know I can’t become too distracted. I’m self-employed,” Marty said. “When my wife and I retire, we’ll be able to do more. But even now, we’re having the time of our lives.”

As many as 40 percent of the 2,000 residents at Robson Communities’ Robson Ranch have full- or part-time jobs, up from just 10 percent when the community opened nine years ago, said Brian Boylan, vice president of sales.

At Frisco Lakes, the active-adult community that Pulte Homes’ Deb Webb unit is building in Frisco, sales manager Mike Sander estimates that 40 percent of the nearly 800 households have someone who’s still working.

Sander said he notices two streams of traffic on Frisco Lakes’ streets early in the morning. As some residents jump into golf carts and make their way to the first tee, others climb into their cars and head for the highway.

The number of working residents in active-adult communities is growing partly because people are moving in at younger ages, but also because more residents are delaying retirement out of choice or, with the recession, necessity.

“Baby boomers may have resigned themselves to working longer to repair their nest eggs, but they don’t want to postpone the active-adult lifestyle. They feel they deserve it,” said Steve Burch, vice president of strategic marketing for Pulte Homes.

Frisco Lakes and Robson Ranch — the two major active-adult communities under construction in North Texas — have 18-hole golf courses, fitness centers and pools. Their dozens of clubs cater to interests ranging from photography to wine-tasting.