Shifting Into Reverse Blog
#282: Refinancing a reverse mortgage to rebalance asset allocation
REVERSE MORTGAGE ENABLES REBALANCING — OF BOTH LIFESTYLE AND PORTFOLIO After seven years of semi retirement, you resolved at the end of the last calendar year to begin full retirement this year, devoting your time to creative (amateur) pursuits. Having decided to continue living in your own home, you’ve completed a series of upgrades and […]
#281: Refinancing a reverse mortgage to add a spouse
REMARRIAGE MAY BE REASON TO REFINANCE It’s been nine years since, after arriving at two important decisions (you and your late wife retiring from full-time employment, deciding to age in place in your home), you took out a reverse mortgage. At the time, you used part of the loan proceeds for reconfiguring the living spaces […]
#280: Using a reverse mortgage to help daughter avoid cashing in 401K money
EASING ADULT CHILDREN OFF THE FINANCIAL LEDGE While your children were brought up to manage their finances responsibly, with no expectation of help from you beyond their college years, you’re now reconsidering, watching your daughter, a single mom, struggle after a layoff several months ago. Apparently she’s not the only one forced into tapping her […]
#279: Using a reverse mortgage to age in place – a new place!
SIZING DOWN, UPPING CONVENIENCE AND SAFETY Now (finally!) both fully retired, you’ve come to the decision about what you do – and don’t – envision for yourselves in terms of your environment. Bottom line: you do not envision moving into a retirement community – or facility. At the same time, you realize that the […]
#278: Using a reverse mortgage to fund deferred maintenance and renovation
HOUSING WEALTH ENABLES AGING IN PLACE IN AN OLDER HOME Discussing the article about Indianapolis’ “aging housing stock problem”, you remarked to each other that you’re right in the middle of it…. the aging housing stock problem. While you love your home — and had made the decision four years ago, when you’d both retired, […]
#277: Home equity and Social Security both need to be part of the retirement planning process
PLANNERS: IN THE RETIREMENT PLANNING PROCESS == INCLUDE HOUSING WEALTH AND SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS In our last blog post “case study”, we introduced a couple who had calculated that, in order to maintain their desired income level in retirement, it was going to take both Social Security benefit checks to augment the annuity and investment […]
#276: Moving home equity to the front of the retirement income line
SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS BETTER CLAIMED LATER THAN SOONER After much thought (arguments, considerations, compromises), you made the decision to retire — both of you –at the end of this calendar year. While the original intent had been for both of you to work until you had both reached “normal retirement age”, you have calculated […]
#275: Same-As and Unique Tax benefits involved in a Reverse Mortgage
REVERSE MORTGAGE FUNDING CARRIES SAME-AS AND UNIQUE TAX BENEFITS Interesting. The two of you just have beaten this week’s filing deadline to get 2026 property tax credits for senior homeowners. With your combined annual income just under $69,000, you were able to qualify for the $150 credit despite the fact that your property has continued […]
#274: Using a reverse mortgage to address the “littler” decisions
MADE THE BIG HOUSING DECISION? FUND THE LITTLER ONES WITH HOUSING WEALTH “Ask yourself the uncomfortable but clarifying question: If someone forced you to do the right thing tomorrow, would I know exactly what that is?” If the answer is no, Pete the Planner says, you have a mechanics problem. If the answer is yes, […]