“I’m not sure just where I’ll be going, but I can’t put up with all the repairs and upkeep this place needs. There are always things that need to be fixed and they are taking up more and more of my time, so I’ve decided to move to a retirement facility this spring. I’ve enjoyed hosting the monthly pitch-in lunches and book discussions, but I’ll be spending the next couple of months sorting things out and getting rid of a lot of stuff, and so will no longer be able to continue hosting our book club.” This recent email has caused you to consider your own living arrangements.
A few years younger than this friend (a widower now in his eighties), you’ve taken for granted being able to continue living in your own home for many years to come, hopefully for your entire lifetime. You’ve kept the house in good shape, with a fairly new roof and a new heating/hot water system. A widower yourself, you are reassured by the fact that both your adult children, while they live out of state, are in constant touch with you. With a solid Long-Term Care insurance plan in place, you believe remaining in your own place is feasible.
On the other hand, you can’t help viewing that email message from the book club host as something of a warning call. You feel reasonably confident that your retirement assets will be sufficient to cover your regular lifestyle needs, but if major things were to go wrong with your home (or if home health care expenses were to exceed your insurance coverage). In short, you’ve been forced to confront some scary “what ifs”.
You might considerusing the equity built up in your home as the answer to those “what-if” scenarios. With a government-insured reverse mortgage, you’ll have a source of funds to use for “aging in place” home adaptations and to fund possible home health care needs. You will not be obligated to make monthly mortgage payments, with the home itself serving as collateral for the loan, so your current budget will remain unaffected. In fact, whatever portion of your home equity is not being used will continue to be credited with growth at the same rate as the interest being charged on the outstanding loan balance.
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Facing future uncertainties can feel a lot more comfortable with a reverse mortgage plan in place.
Readers, if you’d like to see what you might qualify for with a reverse mortgage in Indiana, or to download your Reverse Mortgage Guide Click Here (and scroll down).