Luther Village was the first to bring full equity ownership to retirement living in the Midwest. The founders of Luther Village believed that seniors should not have to give up home ownership in exchange for the benefits of retirement living. Traditionally, retirement communities have required either a large entry fee plus monthly payments or high rental fees.

Luther Village keeps things smart and simple. All residents own their homes. This allows for a range of investment and tax benefits, such as income tax deductions for real estate taxes, including senior citizen and homeowners exemptions. Each homeowner also pays a monthly fee, which is the amount necessary to cover such features as security, buildings and grounds maintenance, activities, a small dining minimum, cable television, including an in-home information channel, all utilities except electric and phone, real estate taxes, insurance and other features shared by all homeowners.

The form of ownership is cooperative, meaning residents own not only their own homes but also an interest in the entire community. Instead of holding a deed, each homeowner owns shares of stock in the Luther Village Owners Corporation. Cooperative ownership allows for having many amenities at a comparatively low per-capita cost and also gives homeowners an important voice in the overall decision making process.