Incorporating the Housing Asset in Retirement Income Planning

For middle-income retirees, home equity is the largest asset they have after the present value of their Social Security and pension benefits (working in retirement is 3rd; retirement savings is 4th). In a time when lifetime income sources such as pensions and Social Security benefits are declining, accessing home equity will become more important as people live longer and face increasing health care costs. Reverse mortgages offer a mechanism for tapping home equity for retirees to address these needs, allowing them to stay in their home or “right-size”. Because of key changes made to reverse mortgages by the Federal Housing Administration to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program, the safety and functionality of accessing home equity now goes beyond supplementing retirement income. In addition, several large broker dealers have also recently removed their sanctions against discussing the mobilization of the housing asset to aid retirement resilience. Testimonial: “Always a great speaker. Loads of content explained very well.”