STAYING HOME WHILE TRAVELING THE FAR EAST
Prior to your retirement last year, you had spent your entire adult lives working full-time as educators, spending every summer hiking and touring in Europe, Canada, or South America. Your plan was to keep living in your home, using your travel budget to explore destinations in Asia.
You’d assumed that your home, a ranch-style house built on a relatively small parcel of land and long ago fully-paid for, would be suitable for “aging in place” without the need for major renovations, and, to a large extent, that’s still true. However, due to a back injury your husband sustained in an auto accident, he now uses a wheelchair or walker most of the time. There was a settlement, which was enough to fund the building of a ramp and a bathroom overhaul. But, obviously, the travel lifestyle you’d envisioned is going to be dramatically reshaped.
You’d been told about the non-profit Road Scholar organization, “a community of people who love learning and exploring the world,” and are encouraged by the fact that they offer tours – including to east and southeast Asia – tailored to mobility needs. However, the cost of these trips is substantially higher than you had originally bargained for. Instead of the two trips per year you’d envisioned for the first five years of retirement, you may need to cut back to one a year or even one every other year.
“It’s not that simple for people with disabilities whose accessibility requirements often lead to additional costs,” wheelchairtravel.org admits, reflecting on h ow destinations, business, and disabled people themselves can work to reduce “disability surcharge.”
Still, rather than cutting back on the travel adventures you’d planned for the early years of your retirement, you might consider tapping the equity built up in your home by applying for a reverse mortgage.
Needless to say, you’d continue to pay real estate taxes and insurance and keep the home in good repair, but there will be no monthly mortgage payment* to worry about. In fact, as you draw funds from your line of credit to pay for the trips, any unused portion of your equity will be credited with (non-taxable) growth at the same rate as that being charged on borrowed funds.
True, that auto accident changed your lives, and not for the better, and hiking Asia has been taken off your life planning list. Turns out, though, your decision to “stay home” could be the key to your being able to realize your dreams of exploring the Far East.
*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 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.org
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