Spain is near the top of the list of Canadians who want a European retirement base, and Madrid is one of my favourite cities. The weather is one of many advantages to spending time in Madrid, so I decided to revisit it earlier this month.

Older Canadians are back to travelling and searching out different lifestyles at pre-pandemic levels. While some wealth is being transferred from Baby Boomers to Gen X and Millennials, older Canadians are also spending it. And the ‘big wealth transfer’ as it’s called, is enormous. I was surprised to see the estimated amounts and the predicted timeline, “a seismic quantity of wealth to the tune of $1 trillion is set to move from Canadian baby boomers to their GenX and millennial heirs between now and 2026.”[1]

In my earlier career as a global health strategy consultant, I spent time in Madrid advising on a national electronic health record initiative. On this visit a decade later, I explored how that initiative supports Madrid’s aging-in-place strategies. I also travelled with my niece, who has mobility and other challenges, so as we wandered the neighbourhoods, we tested out Madrid’s accessibility options.

Our favourite neighbourhood was Salamanca, an upscale area with lovely 19^th-century boulevards, markets, boutique shops, art galleries, and museums. You immediately notice the multigenerational mix of people at all hours of the day. Whether meeting for tapas in the afternoon or dining later in the evening, you will always find families with three or four generations in attendance.

Everyone likes to walk, and Madrileños notoriously underestimate the time it takes to walk anywhere when giving you directions! So off we went to explore. The local schools are within walking distance, and many grandparents and older people walk the children to and from school. The church was on a nearby side street and open all day for services, numerous community groups, and activities. It was clearly a social gathering place, and it was wheelchair accessible with ramps and easy access for those with mobility aids.

Public places such as museums, galleries, post offices, and restaurants were also wheelchair accessible, with ramps built into the design features. More readily available smartphone technology solutions enabled easy access to a wide range of activities, such as post-office services, restaurant ordering, checking museum availability times, and applying for immediate tax-free refunds.

Several people I chatted with told me that their older parents or elderly grandparents live within the neighbourhood. In fact, families plan to care for the very elderly in their own homes or the older person’s home nearby. They may also hire private caregivers from home care companies to assist or stay overnight.

In Madrid, monitoring an older adult’s health and their health care needs is a vastly different experience than what we know in Canada. Every Madrid neighbourhood has a primary care community hub with doctors, nurses, lab offices, and other professionals in one location. All Madrid’s residents have a personalized electronic health record that is interoperable within their region and with their local and regional specialty hospitals. People can read and add to their own electronic health records via phone. For example, an 82-year-old friend of mine has several chronic health issues that he can monitor at home. He takes his vital signs daily and inputs the data into his electronic health record. His local primary care clinic monitors his vitals daily. If he’s not feeling well or his monitored data has alerts, the nurse or clinician asks him to visit the clinic, or they send someone to see him at home, all on the same day. The local clinics are open from early morning until late evening and closed for a few hours during the midday siesta.

At Silver Sherpa, one of the guiding principles in our planning and management practice is that it takes a village to care for an older person. This view was partly informed by a book by Susan Pinker, a Canadian psychologist and author, called The Village Effect. Pinker collected research from social neuroscience studies, and along with her observations, she concluded that human face-to-face contact is critical for happiness, longevity, and resilience. In an increasingly digital world, social media and Zoom calls are no substitute for close social bonds and in-person face time with our friends, families, and social networks. And together, these networks and interwoven relationships make up our own personalized village.

In summary, several quality-of-life factors, along with financial and estate planning, must be considered when advising clients or considering our own retirement lifestyles. Perhaps the most important question to guide your planning is: What lifestyle will give you your best personalized village effect for happiness and longevity?

[1] https://www.cpacanada.ca/news/pivot-magazine/trickle-down-wealth