Home Equity & Senior Housing
Bob Carlson’s ideas and strategies for managing home equity and choice of housing to maintain a budget
Found 126 Articles.
Get access to our full article archive by subscribing to Retirement Watch and Retirement Watch Spotlight Series.
How To Make Your Home Equity a Retirement Asset
The residence usually is one of the most valuable assets retirees own. It also is one of the worst-managed assets. Few people realize the home can be used to increase retirement cash flow or know how to do so efficiently. In the past issues of Retirement Watch, we’ve gone over reverse mortgages and issues related […]
How Do Reverse Mortgages Really Work?
You can’t flip through your TV channels these days without seeing a reverse mortgage advertisement… Which is my so many Retirement Watch Weekly readers are writing in for my take on them. Truth is, a reverse mortgage can be a good idea for some… or a bad idea for others. Today we’ll set the record […]
What Are the Different Types of Reverse Mortgages?
Reverse mortgages are loans available for people who are 62 or older that allow them to tap their home equity while still residing in their homes and without having to make regular loan payments. In a reverse mortgage, the lender gives money to the homeowner as either a lump sum, fixed regular payment, or a […]
What is a Reverse Mortgage and How Does it Work?
A reverse mortgage, also known as a home equity conversion mortgage (HECM), is a loan available to homeowners over the age of 62 that allows them to borrow money based upon the value of their home equity, their age, and current interest rates. Proceeds from a reverse mortgage can be received as a lump sum, […]
SUBSCRIBE TO RETIREMENT WATCH
What you don’t know about retirement can hurt you. In fact, just a few wrong decisions in your investments, taxes, or estate planning could completely derail your retirement plans. Worse yet, the rules of the game keep changing, making it harder to keep up. For these reasons, I’ve assembled all the key points – everything you need to know — into one comprehensive report. Click here today for free access.
Here’s the Right Way to Decide Where to Relocate
Many people are moving from cities and major suburbs, according to anecdotal and news reports. Unfortunately, many are making hasty decisions and will wish they’d taken more time to analyze their choices. I’ve seen numerous media reports that homes in the outer suburbs and other less populous areas are being purchased by residents of cities […]
The Qualified Personal Residence Trust: How to Leave Your Home to Your Heirs
In last week’s retirement watch Weekly, we reviewed the Qualified Personal Residence Trust (QPRT), and how you can use this classic estate planning tool when deciding how to pass on your home. Let’s pick back up with the second installment (here’s Part 1 of our Qualified Personal Residence Trust story)… In our example in Part […]
The Qualified Personal Residence Trust: A Classic Estate Planning Tool
One of the most difficult problems in an estate plan often is the family home or vacation home. It is an especially significant problem for estates that are likely to be taxable. A principal residence or vacation home is likely to have significant value. The key to reducing estate taxes is to remove property from […]
Aging in Place: 3 More Ways to “Future-Proof” Your Home
“Aging in Place” is a phrase associated with older Americans who wish to stay in their homes for as long as they’re able to. Yet not many have developed a plan for how. Until now… Last week, we covered the first 3 steps to Aging in Place: Weighing the finances, maintaining social connections, and identifying the […]
