Economists Are Gloomy!? Many feel a recession is coming. Wharton Business School’s Olivia S Mitchell recently addressed the challenges of retirement, especially for retirees. Key steps: First, “try to put together a summary budget” and “make sure you have an emergency fund.” “Similarly, paying down credit cards also helps reduce financial stress. “A lot of Americans pay only the minimum; they don’t realize this is mounting expensive debt, and it’s getting them into more and more trouble,” Mitchell continued. She noted that even though the prevailing overall interest rates are low, credit card ..read more

This article is from: Squared Away Blog: Financial Behavior: Work, Save, Retire from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, posted Feb 11, 2020 Retirees are apparently unpersuaded that it’s a good idea to convert their substantial home equity into some retirement income. One way to tap this home equity is through state programs that defer older homeowners’ property taxes. The programs are offered in many states, but very few people take advantage of them. Retirees are also skeptical about the benefits of converting their equity into income using a federally insured reverse mortg ..read more

This article by Neal Templin appeared in Barron’s Dec 14, 2019. Looking to free up $4 million to fund your retirement or pay off your mortgage? If you’re a senior with serious digs in places like California or the New York City area or other markets where many homeowners are house-rich and cash-poor, you might be able to secure such funds with only your home. The market for jumbo reverse mortgages has come back to life. Reverse mortgages, in which retirees tap the equity in their homes through mortgages that don’t have to be paid as long as they live there, were long regarded as a last resort ..read more

By Jamie Hopkins By JAMIE HOPKINS For AdvisorNews  Generally financial advice in the United States has been siloed, fragmented and often product-driven. Over the past 80 years, the development of financial advising has been a slow process, sped along by a few major technological advancements. Today, most financial advisors are still doing fairly limited “comprehensive planning.” This in and of itself is not a bad thing; it is a perfectly acceptable business practice to focus on planning and then an area of specialty. Planning is so complex, however, that providing comprehensive advice ca ..read more

The Academy for Home Equity in Financial Planning The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Home equity in financial planning: Publications by Academy members and other thought leaders Funding Longevity Task Force Gets New Name and Home, Adds Karin Hill in Reverse Mortgage Daily May 2019 The Academy of Home Equity in Financial Planning focuses on smart use of housing wealth in HousingWire May 2019 American College’s ‘Funding Longevity Task Force’ Establishes Advisory Board in Life & Health Advisor Jul 2017 Increased Retirement Cashflow: Reverse Mortgages and Investments Neuwirth, Pet ..read more