Most baby boomers are opting for active retirements in communities designed specifically for them and the lifestyle they enjoyed as younger people and expect to continue doing.

“Active-adult communities are analogous to Disneyland for the adults, or in other words, an amusement park that provides a huge range of entertaining activities at all times for people about 55 years” said a new Global Industry Analysts report quoted in Senior Housing News. “A majority of homes in the active adult communities are specially engineered to provide entertainment.”

In the not too distant past, retirement didn’t last all that long so large-scale retirement communities were not needed. But today, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average 65 year old in 2009 could expect to live almost 20 years more, a figure 18 months longer than the figure quoted in 2000, according to Froehlich Financial.

Editor's Note: Economist Warns: ‘Money From Heaven a Path to Hell.’ See Evidence.

These new communities going up all over the country, even in the snow belt, have amenities similar to what one might find in a high-end resort. Fitness centers, pickleball courts and wifi are only a few of the amenities offered, according to 55places.com, a source for people over 55 to learn about developing trends.

People can choose retirement communities in the mountains, on the prairie, on lakes—just about anywhere in the country. Another fast-developing trend is retiring in college towns. Websites devoted to those seeking that kind of environment are all over the web. Communities like Claremont, Calif., Ft. Collins, Colo., Clemson, S.C. and Ithaca, N.Y. have all seen a boom in retirees flocking to move there, according to The Huffington Post.

“Today’s retirees and the baby boomer retirees want three things,” Andrew Carle, director of the Program in Assisted Living/Senior Housing at George Mason University told The Huffington Post. “They want active, they want intellectually stimulating, and they want intergenerational retirement environments. Well, I’ve just described a college campus.”

The United States is not the only corner of the globe with burgeoning retirement communities.

China, India, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Malaysia are all adding retirement communities, CNBC reported.

According to a report on China’s retirement sector by law firm Clifford Chance, that country has made retirement homes a priority for private-sector investments.

Lower-cost Asian countries like Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam are targeting the affluent retirees in Singapore and Japan to move to their countries when it comes time to retire.

Editor's Note: Economist Warns: ‘Money From Heaven a Path to Hell.’ See Evidence.