Prospective retirement village residents will now find it easier to compare the costs of retirement villages thanks to a new ‘calculator’ that has been developed by Macquarie University.

The free calculator, available at www.rvcalculator.org, takes the three main village fees – entry fee, ongoing fee and exit fee – and calculates a simple ‘equivalent monthly rent’ for the years of residence.

Users will also need to put in information regarding the sharing of profits or losses on the resale of their apartment.

For example, when comparing two retirement villages in Sydney with an entry fee of $775,000 (village A) and $750,000 (village B), the village with the lower entry fee and lower monthly fee may look cheaper, but the calculator finds that it actually costs an extra $1,100 a month over the course of seven years.

A handy tool if you are looking at villages and trying to determine which one would best suit your budget.