Reverse Mortgage Reality

Early this morning, I had a brand new client surprise me with the question, “Can I get a reverse mortgage if I don’t have a mortgage?”

This question shouldn’t have been shocking. After all, the name of the program is “reverse mortgage”, so conceivably it IS reasonable to think that to “reverse” a mortgage, you need to HAVE a mortgage.

Fortunately, the answer to the question is YES, and here’s a quick video showing how it works(if you’d like to just read instead of watching the video…feel free to follow below).

JERRY’S STORY

First, let’s talk about Jerry. Jerry is a client and a good friend of mine. He was introduced to me by his financial advisor, who recommended a reverse mortgage credit line(more on the WHY later). Jerry just came to me when he was 58; 4 years before he turned 62(CLICK HERE to see how old you have to be to get a reverse mortgage).

This guy is a planner.

Anyway, Jerry has a home in Philadelphia that’s worth about $240,000. He’s a retired Pharmaceutical salesman, and doesn’t have a mortgage. On top of that, Jerry’s got a good bit of money in his retirement funds.

So why would Jerry get a reverse mortgage?

Jerry is a young guy(his wife is 62 as well), and he leads a fun life. He’s got a condo down the Jersey Shore. He likes to enjoy his life. And he retired early.

But(and this is important)…the majority of his money is in QUALIFIED FUNDS.

***Sidenote-Qualified funds basically means money that’s taxable when you take it. So if you grab $20,000 for a new roof, the REAL bill is closer to $25,000. In other words, Uncle Sam’s got his hand in the “Qualified Fund Cookie Jar”.

So every time Jerry takes a dollar, the good ol’ government gets a quarter.

Jerry’s financial advisor, and Jerry himself were both worried that at the rate he’s going, he might run out of money later down the road. When it comes to retirement, nobody has a crystal ball. The costs of home healthcare have crippled many a millionaire’s savings accounts.

Because of this, Jerry’s advisor told him to reach out to me way back when he was 58. He was pretty sure that Jerry could get a reverse mortgage even if he didn’t have a mortgage, but they had to put the plan together. So we planned, and then we waited.

JERRY’S REVERSE MORTGAGE SOLUTION

In the end, Jerry got $115,000 to put into his reverse mortgage line of credit. Just like a regular HELOC, no interest is charged unless money is taken, but besides that the reverse mortgage credit line has a couple of unique features.

✅ First, when a senior DOES access his or her money, he or she has no mortgage payments(I’m pretty sure you already know that though).

✅ Next, when a senior DOESN’T take his money, the reverse mortgage credit line grows over time. Here’s how it works…

Jerry’s original line of credit of $115,000 will increase at about $6,000 a year in the beginning. Then, as the growth starts to compound, the annual appreciation will hit $7,000, then $8,000 then $10,000. Simply put, every year the un-used portion of Jerry’s line of credit grows.

✅ This leads us to the 3rd unique feature of the reverse mortgage line of credit. All of the growth is TAX-FREE(at this point I should state that I am not giving tax advice, nor am I licensed to do so. But this information comes from over 400 reverse mortgages done).

How can all this growth from Jerry’s LOC be tax free? Well, simply put, its because Jerry is borrowing money. One day the money that JERRY TOOK will need to be paid back(when he passes away or sells the home). This mechanism is very similar to cash value life insurance.

DOROTHY’S STORY

Dorothy is different than Jerry. She’s an 87 year old widow, who lives out in the suburbs. Dorothy is a lovely lady(to learn more about Dorothy CLICK HERE) who just needed a little help.

Dorothy is free and clear also, and her home is worth a little bit over $400,000. But Dorothy is just bringing in social security, and has ran through a good portion of her investments. Her property taxes are through the roof, and speaking of roofs…

Three months ago, Dorothy was forced to write a large check to pay for a new roof😬

So, despite NOT having a mortgage, Dorothy needed help. And the best way to help her was to give Dorothy a reverse mortgage!

In the end, Dorothy was able to take a large percentage of her home’s value in tax free cash to add to her bank account. With that money(and the 2nd year reverse mortgage credit line funds) Dorothy will live in her home for the remainder of her life.

We also have Carol’s story, but go ahead and watch the video to learn more about Carol.

Now, whether you have a mortgage or you don’t, if you need information about reverse mortgages I’d personally be glad to help. You can reach me at jasone@reversemortgagereality.com or (267) 289 1095. Feel free to give me a shout and I’ll do my best to help!