How does a reverse mortgage fit retirement income planning?
It treats your home equity as one coordinated piece of the retirement plan — easing monthly cash flow, delaying other withdrawals, or funding care and home projects — instead of an asset you can only touch by selling. Ben’s years as a financial planner shape how we run this analysis.
Most reverse-mortgage conversations start too narrow: "what's the rate?" The better questions are planner questions. What does your monthly budget look like with no required mortgage payment? What does the line of credit do for your flexibility in a down market? How does this interact with the plan your advisor built? We work through those together — and with your advisor or family in the room whenever you want them there.
The most common program is the FHA-insured HECM (Home Equity Conversion Mortgage). Independent HUD-approved counseling is required before application, and we walk you through that step first.
Do I still own my home with a reverse mortgage?
Yes — the home stays yours, in your name. A reverse mortgage is a loan secured by your home, like any mortgage. You remain responsible for property taxes, homeowner’s insurance, and keeping the home maintained, and you can sell or refinance at any time.
Because you keep the title, the decisions stay yours: how you take the funds (lump sum, monthly amounts, line of credit, or a combination), whether you make voluntary payments, and how the home figures into your estate plans. We explain every obligation in plain language before anything is signed — with adult children welcome in the conversation, because surprises help no one.
What are my responsibilities as a borrower?
Three, mainly: live in the home as your primary residence, keep taxes and insurance current, and maintain the property. Meet those, and no monthly mortgage payment is required. The required HUD-approved counseling session covers the full list before you apply.
The counseling requirement is a feature, not a hurdle: an independent counselor — not us — reviews the program, the costs, and the alternatives with you. If a reverse mortgage is not the right tool for your situation, that conversation is designed to surface it, and we would rather you hear it there than wonder later.
Should my family be part of this decision?
We encourage it. Adult children and advisors are welcome at the table from the first call. A plan the whole family understands — including what happens with the home later — is the outcome we are after, not just a signed loan.
What happens later, in plain terms: when the home is no longer your primary residence, the loan becomes due, and the home is typically sold or refinanced by you or your heirs to repay it. A HECM is a non-recourse loan, which means the repayment obligation is limited to the home itself. We will map the scenarios for your family explicitly, with your numbers, before you decide.