Finally, I Have A Retirement Plan

Dan Gibson | September 19, 2008 2:45 am

Usually the medication helps me avoid thinking about it, but at some point, I’ll be through with the world of music and ready to ride off into the metaphorical sunset. Unfortunately, most gigs in this business don’t come with a lucrative pension plan, which is why country chart mainstay Martina McBride is developing the Disneyland of retirement homes–The Crescendo.

Why should your lack of independence and need for assisted living mean the end of your music career? Even aged country stars shouldn’t be forced to give up on their creative dreams.

Martina McBride helped unveil plans for a $95 million senior living community south of Nashville, designed to provide a welcoming home for aging members of the music industry.

“Residents can still contribute music, make music, record music and perform music here and that’s very unique,” McBride told PEOPLE on Wednesday at the launch of The Crescendo, a community of 180 independent living condos and a nursing facility that will feature a recording studio and a performance hall.

Certainly I won’t be able to afford the condos (priced between $300,000 to $600,000), but Martina’s got that covered.

McBride says a fund will be available to assist those who need financial help. “It won’t be just the exclusive, top-tier people in the music industry who can afford to live here,” she says. “Everyone that contributed can come. We need to take care of our own.”

I’m not exactly in the country music business, but I’m willing to write more about the industry if it means I have a place to crash in my sunset years. What would a music industry retirement home be without a resident blogger?

Martina McBride Launches Country Retirement Community [People]