As silly as it sounds, making reverse mortgages more difficult to qualify for has actually caused some financial advisors to look at reverse mortgages in a new light. They no longer see this as strictly an expensive loan of last resort that you
only do as a last ditch effort.
The regulatory changes made to the HECM program over the last five years have required that reverse mortgage professionals have fresh dialogue with both
homeowners and their financial advisors.
Financial advisors who are uninformed about the lower cost options and the unique features of HECM’s may be giving their clients out-of-date advice.
That’s why as a reverse mortgage professional, I am constantly asking my customers who use the services of a financial advisor if I can talk with them
about the benefits and costs of the reverse mortgage program.
One of the best ways to help homeowners who are worried about the possibility of outliving their savings is to tap the equity in the home.
The best study I’ve seen to highlight this fact is the one completed by two Ph.D’s, Barry Sacks and Stephen Sacks, a couple of years ago called “Reversing
the Conventional Wisdom: Using Home Equity to Supplement Retirement Income”. This study shows in very clear terms how by using a reverse mortgage in
conjunction with planned draws from retirement accounts can dramatically extend the life of your retirement portfolio.
I have been trying to talk with financial advisors but there are still a lot of closed minds about this topic. If you happen to have a financial advisor
that isn’t quite up to date with some of the changes to the reverse mortgage program, please feel free to give him or her my contact information.
I would love to take that person to lunch an discuss reverse mortgages. Tell them I’ll buy.