retirement
What About Social Security?
My previous two posts share information from a study that was completed this year by the Harris Poll for Northwestern Mutual to investigate how many Americans will be prepared to retire and what are their concerns about the possibility of outliving their funds?
Social Security provides an iota of money each month to seniors but certainly not enough to pay ongoing cost of living expenses, medical expenses or caregiving costs and if the senior doesn’t have a pension or other funds to use, what are they going to do?
New Study Underscores Retirees’ Need for Non-Traditional Funding Sources
Posted By Jason Oliva On June 7, 2016 @ 5:32 pm In News,Retirement,Reverse Mortgage
“Non-retirees also plan to rely upon Social Security less than their retired counterparts, with 35% of non-retired Americans expecting this benefit will be their sole or primary source of retirement income, compared to 49% of current retirees.
Social Security is often one of the main sources of income for people over age 65. But this stalwart asset, which has long been considered one of the three legs of the traditional retirement stool, may soon face depletion by 2034, according to the Security Board of Trustees for the Social Security Administration in a report submitted to Congress last summer.
But while there has been some talk that reverse mortgages could support the traditional retirement stool, joining Social Security and personal savings as defined benefit pensions become increasingly less common, the acceptance of using housing wealth as a retirement funding source is hobbled by a widespread apprehension to borrow against home equity.”
American seniors currently retain over 12 trillion dollars in home equity and honestly? In spite of the fear and misunderstanding of the Reverse loan, it will come to the rescue for many seniors and their families.
They are now affordable, even a No Costs version is available, non taxable because it’s not income, they continue to own their home, it never goes to the “Bank” and its very, very safe.
But then again, I am a Reverse Loan Consultant…..
Confused About Reverse Loans?
I have been a Reverse Loan Consultant for almost 15 years and when I first started in this amazing and wonderful industry, the fees were very costly but that has changed over the last several years and the loan has become a terrific option to utilize one’s equity without being obligated to make mortgage payments each month.
My previous post was part of an article that I will share the remainder of here, but it discussed how much equity is in American seniors homes; well over $12 Trillion dollars and growing.
Seniors number 1 concern, is outliving their money. Let’s face it. No one can live on Social Security and if one is fortunate enough to have a pension and investments, there is the concern about drawing down on them too soon and…
Running out of money.
A Reverse loan can eliminate that fear and worry and if a senior would get over their fear an bias about them, they will find out that they are very affordable.
As a matter of fact, I can offer a No Cost Reverse loan. It just depends upon the size of the loan.
And the Title stays in their name or Trust AND THE BANK NEVER TAKES OVER THE PROPERTY.
Here is the remainder of the article that I’m carry over from the previous post.
The Street: Education is Key When Discussing Reverse Mortgages
September 5th, 2016 | by Alana Stramowski Published in News, Reverse Mortgage
There are some facts that homeowners need to know before taking out a reverse mortgage though. A small, but important detail that often is overlooked is the fact that the amount withdrawn during the initial year of taking out a reverse mortgage determines the mortgage insurance premium when the loan is closes.
The fees used to be extremely high, in some cases, but now, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) limits origination feed to just 2% of the first 200,000 of the maximum claim amount plus 1% of additional home value, but not exceeding at total of $6,000. according to the article.
Reverse mortgages can be extremely complicated for those homeowners taking a look for the first time, but with the proper education, they can see how the product could benefit them to support their overall retirement plan.
Read the full article on The Street.
Written by Alana Stramowski
Seniors and Housing Debt
Although the amount of equity that is retained by American seniors exceeds 5 Trillion dollars, there are many who will not be able to retire because they are burdened with a mortgage payment.
Unfortunately, some seniors applied for Lines-of-Credit or did a traditional refinance on their property and took a lot of funds out at the close of escrow the last several years.
A much better option would have been to apply for the HECM Line-of-Credit and only use the funds as needed and not be obligated for a money mortgage payment.
A new report was recently published by HUD’s office of Policy Development and Research discussing this concern and what options seniors will have in the future to manage their housing debt.
I will post a summary of the findings in the next three posts.
HUD: Reverse Mortgages Provide Solution to Retirees’ Housing Needs
By Jason Oliva
“Baby Boomers and senior homeowners have the potential to reshape the nation’s housing market. But as a growing share of this demographic carries mortgage debt into retirement, they will need to seek additional solutions to improve their financial situations. For many, this could mean tapping into home equity through a reverse mortgage, according to a new report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The broader housing market has shown positive signs of recovery in the years following the financial crisis, but several challenges remain, especially for older homeowners nearing retirement, according to a report recently issued by HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research.
A rising percentage of older homeowners are carrying mortgage debt as they approach and enter retirement. Among owners aged 65 and older, 40% had mortgages in 2014, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.”
HUD Counseling for Reverse Loans
One of the best resources for accurate information about Reverse mortgages is through a HUD approved counseling agency.
As a matter of fact, no one can apply for the loan without completing a counseling session which is typically done over the telephone in about one hour.
Once it’s completed the counselor will send a HUD Counseling Certificate to the individual(s) for them to keep and use if they decide to apply for the loan.
Here is a copy of an article that was published a couple of months ago with more details about this important resource.
“From an educational standpoint, Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) counselors are the first line of defense in the ongoing struggle to dispel the most common reverse mortgage myths and misconceptions.
Mandatory HECM counseling provides seniors with the necessary exposure to make an informed decision about getting a reverse mortgage. Like originators, the job of a HECM counselor is also rooted in education as they help prospective borrowers more clearly understand the inner workings of reverse mortgages.
Despite this dual effort on the educational front, and the wide variety of positive press from the mainstream media lately, several reverse mortgage illusions have yet to evaporate into the ether.
Borrowers, in fact, still own their homes
One of the most common misconceptions of reverse mortgages is that borrowers automatically relinquish ownership of their homes once they obtain a HECM.
Perhaps the result of negative media representation in the past, the lingering effect of this myth has obscured the truth about reverse mortgages among the general public. The reality is often a pleasant revelation for seniors once they undergo HECM counseling.
“Seniors are under this misconception that they don’t own the home anymore—the lender does,” said Sherry Tetreault, a Tenn.-based certified credit counselor with ClearPoint Credit Counseling.”
Jason Oliva/Reverse Mortgage Daily
Due to the fact that this article is quite long, I plan on sharing it in two additional posts here on my blog.
If anyone would like a list of some HUD approved counseling agencies, please contact me as there are several different ones to chose from, but the counseling process is uniform.