October 2015

Making Money Last

So if you are approaching retirement and still carrying a large mortgage on your home and you have not purchased a Long Term Care insurance policy, how long do you think your investments will last?

Are you concerned (As most people, are), about running out of money?   What if you outlive your funds?  Will you move in with your adult children, a tent or buy an RV?

Okay, just a little bit of humor, but this is a very serious situation and many seniors are worried about it.   A Reverse loan can leverage retirement funds as many Financial Advisers are now suggesting to their clients and it certainly can eliminate an existing mortgage payment.

Here is the next section of a summary of an article that was written about this very topic, in The Dallas Morning New column.   The summary is lengthy and too long for here, so the final portion of it will be in my following post.

Reverse Mortgage Line of Credit: A ‘Powerful’ Retirement Tool
Posted ByJason OlivaOn October 26, 2015 @ 5:01 pm In News,Retirement,Reverse Mortgage

“With the help of ESPlanner, a financial planning software for individuals and financial planners, Burns provides several scenarios of fictitious couples and how a reverse mortgage line of credit can bolster their consumption in retirement.

In one scenario, an already retired couple, ages 76 and 77, has a home worth $443,000; savings of $150,000; and $2,000 per month in Social Security benefits. If they decide to “do nothing,” Burns says they will have $30,300 a year in constant purchasing power for the rest of their lives.

“But if they take out a reverse mortgage line of credit, their lifetime consumption will rise to $45,700 a year in constant purchasing power,” Burns writes. “That’s a 50.8 percent increase in the money they can spend on daily living.”’

Look for the final section of this article in my next post.

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Retirement Impowerment

Just about everyone has concerns about money, income and retirement don’t they?   Well, this is particularly true if you are an  “older person” such as a senior.

10,000 Americans are turning 62 every day and most of them are financially unprepared for retirement and the costs of aging in the next several years.  With “care giving” costs averaging $7,000 a month and increasing, a senior who does not have Long Term Care Insurance will most likely run out of money at some point to pay for caregivers.

And if it’s not the costs of medical expenses or care giving, it will simply be the costs of daily living and paying for normal monthly expenses.   Plus, many seniors are carrying a large mortgage and can’t even consider retirement because they have a mortgage payment that needs to be made each month.

Financial advisers are learning about the power of using a Reverse loan as part of the overall retirement plan for their clients, as a method to leverage what the client may have accumulated in savings and investments.

This can very effectively extend the longevity of of their client’s portfolio for many years, which I have mentioned in previous posts.

Following is a summary of an article that was recently published in  The Dallas Morning News column.

Reverse Mortgage Line of Credit: A ‘Powerful’ Retirement Tool
Posted ByJason OlivaOn October 26, 2015 @ 5:01 pm In News,Retirement,Reverse Mortgage | 1 Comment

“The line of credit feature on a reverse mortgage has garnered considerable attention lately for its usage as part of a coordinated retirement planning strategy. And for many people, a reverse mortgage line of credit can be ‘the most powerful tool,’ according to a recent The Dallas Morning News column.

A reverse mortgage line of credit can be especially valuable for retirees who own a nice house and don’t have any debts, but aren’t satisfied with their savings as they approach retirement, says syndicated columnist Scott Burns, who is also a principal of the Plano, Texas-based investment firm AssetBuilder, Inc.

“Indeed, if you are looking for a big lever, a reverse mortgage line of credit will be the most powerful tool available for many people,” Burns writes in The Dallas Morning News column.”

I will share the remainder of the article in the next post to this site.

 

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The Cost of Transportation for Seniors

Most of us ( Especially those of us who regularly drive cars for our transportation) take for granted, that we will always be able to drive our cars for all of the various reasons that we are currently using them for.

However, there may come a time when we won’t be able to drive for ourselves as we age and our reflexes and other age related issues come into play, in our ability to hop in our car, back out of the driveway and go about our business.

Investment News recently published an article about the importance of calculating the costs of transportation that most Financial Advisers are missing and not even considering for their clients. And honestly, I hadn’t thought about it, either.

Here is a copy of a summary of the article, but I will also include a link to it as well.

The Critical Retirement Costs Many Advisers Aren’t Discussing With their Clients

October 18, 2015 By Jason Oliva for Reverse Mortgage Daily

When it comes to retirement planning, some financial advisers may not be discussing the most important costs their aging clients face, suggests a recent article from Investment News.

While housing and health care costs remain top of mind in retirement planning discussions, transportation is the second-highest expenditure for Americans age 65 and older, and is something advisers need to factor into a financial plan, writes Investment News.

“Helping a client or couple navigate their mobility needs in retirement is the new job of retirement planning,” said Joseph Coughlin, director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab and the New England University Transportation Center, in the article.

Whereas other expenses tend to decline later in life, many transportation costs are fixed, thereby giving them greater scale on the balance sheets of older Americans, Coughlin said.

Approximately 79% of seniors age 65 and older live in car-dependent suburban and rural communities, according to a report by Transportation for America, an organization that lobbies for investment in local transportation.

Despite the necessity transportation plays in a person’s life, a survey last year from the Insured Retirement Institute noted that only 66% of advisers discuss retirement lifestyle issues such as housing and relocation with clients.

“Advisers’ role is getting bigger and bigger,” said Mike Lynch, vice president of strategic markets at Hartford Funds, in the article. “It’s not just managing investments, but managing their lifestyle.”

Read the Investment News article.

Written by Jason Oliva

 

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Reverse Loans are Bad, Aren’t They?

There was an interesting column that was written recently in Forbes that questioned why more seniors aren’t researching the benefits of using a reverse mortgage to extend their retirement funds.

I of course, have the answer.

It’s fear and the unwillingness to even speak over the telephone with a qualified Reverse loan consultant.   I know, because I speak from experience.

The general public, professionals and the media that continues to churn out inaccurate stories of someone’s bad experience with the loan, is driving a mindless and inappropriate fear about them.

And this idiocy and ignorance is hurting the senior community, because they don’t know what to believe and because of “what they have heard”, they have an opinion that is solely based on hearsay and inaccurate portrayals of the Federal loan program.

The home is the biggest asset anyone has and for a senior, it can be used to help them extend any savings or retirement funds further into the future and pay for medical and caregiving expenses.

Using a reverse loan in lieu of drawing down on any savings or investments, is a smart decision.

Currently, people over age 62 retain $4.08 trillion in home equity.   Yes, you read that and it’s a huge number, isn’t it?

But people get weird and defensive when you mention “reverse mortgage”, because of the bad things that they have heard about it

“The biggest hindrance: long-held misconceptions and miseducation of the reverse mortgage product in the eyes of the consumers”.  Forbes

I have been a Reverse loan consultant for almost 14 years and it has been a continual struggle to develop consistent business because of the incessant, negative pounding that doesn’t stop.

However, I do feel that it has become less of an issue and there is more positive press than in the past, as professionals and the general public are becoming educated about why this is such a great retirement tool and a positive experience.

Costs have been reduced   ( That was always a BIG objection) and with the new Financial Assessment in place, they are safer than ever.

And in closing, it may not be appropriate for everyone, but it’s great to have it as an option, wouldn’t you agree?

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Can a Baby Boomer Afford to Retire?

Bankrate.com and in a recent survey the completed with American citizens on the average seems to be relatively upbeat.

Until they ask Boomers how they feel about their future and if they are comfortable enough to retire later on in their lives?   And they found out that a very high percentage of them are quite concerned about their future.

Here is the second half of the article previously posted on this site.

Baby Boomers’ Retirement Situation is ‘Troubling’
Posted By Jason Oliva On September 28, 2015 @ 5:22 pm In News,Retirement,Reverse Mortgage

“This is a “troubling” development for those over age 50, as these years are the home stretch in preparing for retirement, says Bankrate.com Chief Financial Analyst Greg McBride.

“Using retirement savings to cover an emergency is a permanent setback to retirement planning, with the possibility of taxable distributions, early withdrawal penalties, loss of tax efficiency, and the inability to replace withdrawn funds in future years,” McBride said in a written statement.

People with higher incomes were less likely to dip into their nest egg, with more than 90% of people earning $75,000 or more saying they haven’t touched their retirement savings.

Another key highlight of the survey revealed that people living in the South were more than twice as likely than people in the West to have used their retirement savings for an emergency.

The Bankrate.com survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, which obtained phone interviews with 1,004 adults living in the continental U.S. between September 3-6.”

Written by Jason Oliva

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