Over the final third of your careers, the two of you had done a lot of planning for your retirement years, envisioning trips and activities and planning for a do-over of your home to make it “elder-friendly”. Today, six years into retirement, you’re taking stock. You have, in fact, been able to take a few fabulous trips. Your home surroundings have become more convenient, safe, and beautiful. Gratitude is in order, you acknowledge,
At the same time, in looking ahead to “Retirement Chapter 2”, you’re feeling less certain. True, you plan on doing less overseas traveling, but everyday rising costs, notably hikes in groceries and gasoline and in your Long Term Care insurance premium, have gotten you more than a bit worried. Those incessant messages about stock market “shakes” and political uncertainties haven’t helped. You are determined to be proactive – and realistic – going into the next phase of retirement life.
Your regular sources of income include your Social Security payments, pension checks from each of your former employers, and regular withdrawals from a jointly owned investment account. (You’ve been careful to keep these withdrawals below 3% of the account value annually, and, so far, this has allowed growth every year). You have taken a long range investment view, staying in the market through all the ups and downs. So far, this combination of systematic withdrawals along with pension, and Social Security income has worked well.
However, you want to feel prepared for a time when that may no longer be the case. Your neighbors have shared an article they’d read about income annuities that guarantee a non-fluctuating monthly or quarterly income as being among “the best protection from market downturns”, and that’s one path you’re considering, along with a more caution-driven portfolio re-balancing.
Rather than upending the investment allocation plan that has served you so well over the years, consider using your housing wealth as a future source of income. (In fact, your investment in making your home “more convenient, safe, and beautiful” abode might well have positioned it for future appreciation in value!). With a reverse mortgage, you would continue owning and enjoying your home. Your “standby line of credit” or “annuity-like guaranteed monthly income payment” can then be used to keep up with rising insurance and future increases in living costs.
In reaching for reassurance as Retirement Chapter 2 unfolds, consider your housing wealth.
https://mutualreverse.com/david-garrison
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).
If your heirs want to keep the home after your death, they will have to repay either the full loan balance or 95% of the home’s appraised value, whichever is less. Borrower must occupy home as primary residence and remain current on property taxes, homeowner’s insurance, the costs of home maintenance, and any HOA fees. David Garrison, NMLS ID 1595194. Mutual of Omaha Mortgage, Inc. dba Mutual of Omaha Reverse Mortgage, NMLS ID 1025894. 3131 Camino Del Rio N 1100, San Diego, CA 92108. Indiana-DFI Mortgage Lending License 43321. Michigan 1st Mortgage Broker/Lender/Servicer Registrant