Reverse Mortgages fees higher than Subprime Loans
After a decade of retirement, John and Stella Dohrer were increasingly feeling squeezed financially as living costs edged upward year after year.
The Mesa couple weren’t starving, but their Social Security payments weren’t always enough to meet monthly insurance costs.
So earlier this year, they tapped into the equity built up in their modest townhouse on University Drive using a reverse mortgage.
“It’s just been something good for us that gets us over the hump every month,” said Stella Dohrer, 78.
Reverse mortgages allow homeowners older than 62 to access their equity without having to sell the house or take on extra monthly bills. And it’s rapidly gaining popularity among America’s growing senior population.
More than 90,000 federally insured reverse mortgages were taken out from October to July, up from just 6,640 in fiscal 2000, according to the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association.
The reverse mortgage is gaining acceptance as a financial planning tool as people live longer, association spokesman Darryl Hicks said.
“In a lot of cases, their traditional retirement vehicles, such as IRAs, pensions and even Social Security, are not allowing them to live financially secure lives,” Hicks said. Full Article
Written by charles dennis on August 27th, 2007 with
comments disabled.
Read more articles on Market News and education.
- [+] Digg: Feature this article
- [+] Del.icio.us: Bookmark this article
- [+] Furl: Bookmark this article