For many North Shore homeowners, the biggest asset they own is not in an account at all. It is the home — and it may not be in the plan.
Presented by Dan Ventura, Fairway Reverse
Serving North Shore and Essex County homeowners | NMLS #[Insert Number]
You check your retirement accounts. You watch the market. You know what Social Security brings in each month. But for many North Shore homeowners, the biggest asset they own is not in an account at all. It is the home.
You cannot spend a bedroom. You cannot sell five percent of the kitchen. And unless you create a strategy around the equity, years of home appreciation may never give you more options in retirement. That is a lot to leave outside the plan.
Many homeowners think of their house in only two ways: live in it, or sell it. But for homeowners age 62 and older, a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage, commonly called a HECM reverse mortgage, can allow you to access a portion of your home’s value while you keep living in — and owning — your home.
That could mean paying off an existing mortgage, creating access to funds for future needs, or giving your retirement savings more room to remain invested instead of being the only place you turn when you need money.
Your home is already part of your wealth. It may deserve a place in your retirement plan, too.
Consider a North Shore couple in their early 70s whose home is worth about $650,000 and who currently make a $1,400 monthly principal and interest mortgage payment.
Required monthly mortgage payment
Required monthly mortgage payment
$16,800 per year no longer going toward that required payment — more room in the monthly budget, less need to draw from savings.
Now consider a North Shore homeowner who owns a paid-off home worth about $650,000. There is no mortgage payment to eliminate, but a meaningful portion of that wealth is still tied up in the home.
Valuable wealth in the home, with no established way to access it
A portion of home equity available for future needs, while you keep living there
Should a large, hard-to-use asset remain completely outside the retirement plan?
Examples are hypothetical and provided for educational purposes only. Every situation is different. A Home Equity Conversion Mortgage is a loan. Like any loan, the balance grows over time as interest and applicable charges accrue. With a HECM reverse mortgage, you must continue to live in the home as your primary residence, pay property taxes and homeowners insurance, maintain the home, and meet the terms of the loan.
When you are still working, a market drop may be easier to wait out. In retirement, it can feel different. If you need money from your investments while the market is down, the dollars you withdraw are no longer there to participate if the market recovers.
Having another available source of funds may give you more choices during those periods, instead of turning to retirement accounts every time money is needed. This is not about predicting the market. It is about having more than one place to turn.
If you have owned a North Shore home for years, it may now represent one of the most valuable things you own. Has anyone ever shown you what that value could mean for your retirement while you are still living there?
Not someday when the home is sold. Not years from now. Today, as part of a plan built around the life you want to keep living.
Created for Essex County homeowners age 62 and older. We’ll email it to you right away — no pressure.
Prefer to talk it through with someone local? Request a conversation with Dan, or download the guide first — no pressure either way.
Dan Ventura | Fairway Reverse
Serving North Shore and Essex County homeowners | NMLS #[Insert Approved NMLS Number]