You feel at once blessed and proud, because in taking stock of your lives since retirement, the two of you have succeeded, through your own endeavors, in building assets you inherited from parents and grandparents into a nice, if not newsworthy, estate.
You live on a property that’s been in the family for generations, now updated and remodeled, where you’re hoping to spend the rest of your days. With no children of your own, you have funded college costs for several nieces and nephews. However, you have agreed that, in your estate, you will not leave assets to individual beneficiaries; your plan stipulates that, upon the second of your deaths, the primary beneficiaries will be three different charitable organizations (one of those will inherit the property itself.)
Although the current value of your joint estate is in the low seven-figure category, you are far from needing to be concerned about estate taxes. More important to you is keeping control of your financial assets in order to maintain your own (not overly lavish) lifestyle and being assured of adequate “rainy day” money for even the most extreme of healthcare needs throughout both your lifetimes.
You appear to have given very careful thought to the way in which you hope to share whatever wealth remains at the end of your lives. In terms of ensuring adequate coverage for your own healthcare needs, a reverse mortgage on your primary residence might offer a solution, with the line of credit serving as your “rainy day fund.” With that resource in place, you can move forward with your charitable gifting. (The interesting aspect of a reverse mortgage is that, to the extent you do not draw down the line of credit, the arrangement includes a growth feature, with the untouched balance continuing to increase by the same rate as the interest being charged on the outstanding loan balance). Someday, when the home passes to the charity you’ve chosen, they may choose to pay off the loan and keep the home.
Meanwhile, having a reverse mortgage “fallback fund” in place for unforeseen medical needs tomorrow can allow you to move ahead with those charitable gifts today.
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).
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 FR0022702. These materials are not from HUD or FHA and the document was not approved by HUD, FHA or any Government Agency. Subject to credit approval. For licensing information, go to: www.nmlsconsumeraccess.orgEqual Housing Lender