This should not be a major surprise because for roughly two-thirds of Americans, Social Security benefits will supply more than 50% of their retirement income. Social Security is far and away the largest retirement income asset of the average American.
The other two major sources of wealth for the average American are retirement savings and home equity. While Social Security and retirement savings accounts get a lot of attention during retirement planning, home equity is often largely ignored as a possible income source.
“With the baby boomer generation moving into retirement, we are ill-prepared as a society to provide housing alternatives and resources for this 30 million+ population, who in large part want to stay put in their current homes,” said ReverseVision President & CEO, John Button. “Reverse mortgages, specifically the government-insured HECM, support strategies to help retirement-age homeowners ‘age in place,’ in a familiar setting where convenience and long-term relationships contribute to a preferable quality of life.”
The lack of focus on home equity in retirement income planning is nothing short of a complete failure to properly plan and utilize all available retirement assets. This needs to change immediately because strategic uses of home equity,especially reverse mortgages, could save many people from financial failure in retirement and help stem the overall retirement income crisis facing Americans.