If you find yourself yearning for a retirement of comfort in your own home in a community you love, you are definitely not alone.  Here are some pretty telling facts and statistics surrounding the desires of older adults in the U.S..

According to research by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP):

• Nearly 90 percent of seniors want to stay in their own homes as they age.
• Even if they begin to need day-to-day assistance or ongoing health care during retirement, 82% would prefer to stay in their homes.
• Most pre-retirees expect they will be able to live independently during retirement; only 14% expect they will need day-to-day assistance or ongoing health care at any point during their retirement.
• Thinking about parents’ getting older is on the minds of 88% of adult children.
•  75% of adult children and 69 % of parents think about the parents’ ability to live independently as they get older

•  AARP identified housing features that seniors find are especially important in the later years: 

  – Safety features such as non-slip floor surfaces (80 percent)

  – Bathroom aides such as grab bars (79 percent)

  – A personal alert system that allows people to call for help in emergencies (79 percent)

  – Entrance without steps (77 percent)

  – Wider doorways (65 percent)

  – Lever-handled doorknobs (54 percent)

  – Higher electrical outlets (46 percent)

  – Lower electrical switches (38 percent)

From the National Assocation of Home Builders:

• 75% of remodelers report an increase in inquiries related to aging in place.
• The NAHB predicts that aging in place remodeling market to be $20-$25 billion.  That’s about 10 percent of the $214 billion home improvement industry.

According to the MetLife Mature Marketing Institute:

• 91% of pre-retirees age 50 to 65 responded that they want to live in their own homes in retirement.  Of that group, 49% want to stay in their current homes, and 38% want to move to new homes

Whether it’s the desire to simply stay put through retirement, or to make modifications to the home, or even to purchase a new home, a reverse mortgage is a flexible tool to help finance any of these.  

Reverse mortgages are available to homeowners 62 and over, including married couples, with many protections in place to ensure borrowers are adequately educated before using this option, such as required third-party counseling.  Reverse mortgages are gaining in popularity among retirees from all walks of life.  A reverse mortgage for purchase option is available for those looking to purchase a new residence.

Jan Jordan is a Reverse Mortgage Specialist serving the Fort Collins, Loveland, Greeley, Longmont, Boulder and other Front Range areas of Colorado, as well as the Cheyenne and Laramie communities of Wyoming.  Contact Jan and learn if reverse mortgage is right for you.