The TV pitchmen make it sound like the easiest thing: Use your home equity to finance your retirement through a reverse mortgage, and stay in your home without ever making a payment. What they forget to mention is a reverse mortgage is not nearly that simple. While it is a great way for some older people to remain in their homes, it isn’t a good fit for all. Plus, even when it’s a good option, it’s expensive. “In a very small set of cases, where it helps someone who’s elderly to stay in their home the final years … it’s a powerful tool,” says Matt Kelly, a personal finance coach in Colorado who left his job with a lender rather than do aggressive marketing of reverse mortgages. For the wrong people, he says, “it’s a colossally bad idea for a number of reasons.” Read the full story on this topic on our sister site, Living on the Cheap.
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