The “Sally Army” major whose village decision made him money.
After 40 years working for the Salvation Army around New Zealand, Anthony and Gaynor Stone’s home at Roseland Park Village was the first they’d ever owned.
The couple bought their villa at the Hamilton East retirement community, part of the Karaka Pines Villages family, in 2015 when it was brand new. Moving there was Gaynor’s idea, Anthony says – he was not originally keen on living in a retirement village.
But once they settled into the 54-home community and began to make friends, the retired Salvation Army major quickly felt at home. He became the chair of the Residents Committee and the couple took part in village activities and social events. As an avowed hater of gardening and lawn-mowing, he was very happy to leave those jobs to a caretaker.
“We’ve been very happy here,” he says. “It’s been a wonderful experience.” However, aside from the multiple benefits of a retirement community run by Karaka Pines, he also gained something that doesn’t occur in many of the alternatives in New Zealand: greater financial freedom.
Most retirement village business models keep the capital gains on the properties and dish out pre-agreed allotments to residents. Karaka Pines Villages is one of the few where residents retain the capital gains on their properties, a model in place since 2010.
This has turned out to have a huge impact on Anthony’s life. Sadly, Gaynor passed away in April last year. After experiencing some health issues himself, Anthony is selling their three-bedroom Roseland Park home and moving to an apartment in a different village so he can access more day-to-day support, as well as tiered care should he need extra help in the future.
With the value of his home nearly doubling in eight years, he is leaving with more options to take care of his future needs. Karaka Pines’ capital gains promise has given him, he says, greater financial freedom than if they’d bought into a traditional retirement village: “The capital gains are a huge benefit and it’s allowing me to make this move to a place with a higher level of care with some change to invest, to help me on a day-to-day basis.”
It wasn’t what they had planned for their retirement. When Gaynor died, Anthony felt as though he’d “lost my right arm”. The pair had been inseparable for most of their lives. They were married for 51 years and worked for the Salvation Army together every day while raising three sons.
“I feel like part of me is not here, so it’s been a really tough time for me,” he says. Gaynor suffered from dementia in her last year and Anthony became her main carer until she needed hospital-level care and he was able to return to “just being her husband again”.
He found the support of his family, neighbours, and village staff invaluable during this difficult time. With understanding staff and residents, he was able to remain independent in Roseland Park for as long as possible.
“There were always people from the village popping in and out to see how I was,” he says. “Before I moved in, I thought we’d all be living in each other’s pockets but it’s not like that. You just know people are there if you need them.”
He also found that staff went “above and beyond” in keeping an eye on him: “The management have also been extremely kind and helpful,” he says, recalling one particularly difficult day after Gaynor died.
“I was a complete mess, physically and emotionally wrecked,” he says. “The village manager came over and asked if I was okay. I said ‘No I’m not; I feel terrible and like I’m going to keel over; I don’t think I can walk from here to the car’.”
The manager got her own car, took him to the doctor, visited with him, and then accompanied him to the pharmacy as well.
“She must have been two hours with me; she just wanted to help,” he says. “That’s been my experience of this village. It’s been a nice place to be.”
He says Roseland Park felt more like a gated community than a retirement village, and he enjoyed that the place “didn’t feel corporate … it was just a comfortable, secure way of living”.
The memories make him sad to leave Roseland Park, but the financial security he has preserved with the capital gains promise means he has no regrets.
“This was the first home we’d bought, so it’s got that emotional attachment,” he says. “It’s been a wonderful experience for us, and I still feel Gaynor around from time to time. I miss her terribly, but life needs to go on.”