Health Scare Leads to Rightsizing Solution
I recently had a health scare that made me rethink our financial situation. I’m 75, and I had a ruptured aneurysm that the doctor caught in time, but it required surgery, a hospital stay and extended convalescence when I returned home. While I was being prepared for surgery, I kept thinking about what would happen to my wife if I didn’t pull through. Would she be able to afford our living expenses? Would she have to sell our home, and where would she live?
Like many seniors, we rely primarily on social security income. I still work part-time to pay a few of our bills. I was forced to miss nearly a month of work when I was recovering from surgery, and that really set us back financially.
My home-related costs made it clear that it’s time to make changes
I built this home 25 years ago, but it was time to take a serious look at how sustainable it was for us. I’m a contractor, and I’ve always done all of the maintenance around the home and yard, but I know that my health will not allow me to continue working much longer, and home repairs are becoming more difficult. Taxes and insurance continue to increase. Upkeep and maintenance costs are starting to become a legitimate concern.
A reverse mortgage provides much-needed liquidity for this couple
Without my part-time income, we might have trouble making ends meet. My wife and I decided that we needed sell the home and find something more affordable. Instead of selling our home and putting most of the proceeds into buying our next home, we decided to use a reverse mortgage to keep as much money in our pockets as possible.
I used an online reverse mortgage calculator to estimate our loan amount eligibility. Once I selected a lender, we began the process. Just like any other purchase transaction, it took about 30 days.
Benefits of the program for these homeowners
- This program gave us the ability to buy a smaller, more manageable home with a loan we’d never have to worry about repaying.
- When we die, our kids will pay off the loan when they sell the property.
- It gave us the ability to establish a sizable savings account with proceeds from the previous home sale. We also did not have to worry about a monthly mortgage payment obligation.
I now have the peace of mind knowing that if I die, my wife’s future in the home is secure. She’ll have more than enough savings and income to pay property taxes and insurance. The reverse mortgage program was the right solution for us.