Our MAPS members' facilities range from those that take people who come in with absolutely nothing to very expensive places. It's nice that there's some variety. At some of them, you have to turn over all of your assets. For a family that has quite a bit of money, that's not feasible. There are some where you can pay by the month.
Every family is different.
If there are members of a family who don't work and can be supportive of a family member for longer, then maybe that person doesn't need to move to a care facility early. But maybe a person has dementia and they're getting to the point of being dangerous. Those people should probably have been moved to a retirement community when they were first diagnosed with dementia. It's better if a senior person can help make decisions about where they're going to go and do it when they're as healthy as possible so they can become a part of the retirement community and participate in the activities and feel like they have ownership of the decision. There's something to be said about going to a facility when you feel good about yourself, confident and alert, and making new friends.