With summer swiftly waning, you’re beginning to think about the winter holidays. Unfortunately, with inflation having noticeably strained your budget, you have concerns around your traditional role as “Uncle Santa”. Each Christmas for the past ten or more years, you’ve made Christmas gifts to each of your nieces and nephews in the form of a contribution to a college fund. While two nephews have graduated, you’re carrying on the same gifting tradition with your two grand-nieces. It will be a squeeze, but you imagine you can keep the gift-giving going through 2022. Still, you’re dreading having the overly intrusive conversation about the state of your finances that will inevitably follow your news. The young ones, along with their parents, have come to expect those gifts as a natural part of the family holiday rituals. In reality, meanwhile, you’ve managed your post-retirement “finances” very responsibly. Your home is mortgage-free, your car paid for, and there is no credit card debt to speak of. The “squeeze” you’re experiencing have to do with escalating insurance premiums (including both auto and long term care insurance), plus the rise in gasoline and food costs.
One solution might be to use your “housing wealth” as a resource, arranging for a reverse mortgage on your home. There will be no mandatory mortgage payments, but of course you’ll be responsible for property taxes, homeowner’s insurance, and home maintenance costs, just as you are now. Using that reverse mortgage line of credit, you’ll be able to make those annual Christmas gifts. In a way, you’ll be giving a “gift” to yourself to be able to see your nieces and nephews avoid crippling college debt. Meanwhile, should your car need replacing at some future date, you’ll have ready access to the funds needed.
A reverse mortgage might be Santa’s gift to you – a gift that lets you keep on giving.
David Garrison
Home Equity Retirement Specialist
NMLS # 1595194
Serving the State of Indiana
p (317) 644-2595 c (765) 516-0130
e [email protected]
2169 East Rutland Lane, Martinsville, IN 46151
Corporate NMLS #1025894