Loan of last resort: It’s the mantra that long defined the reverse mortgage. But changes to the reverse mortgage program have made the loan more attractive for aging Americans, and are even considered a wealth management tool, according to personal finance columnist Liz Weston. In a recent Los Angeles Times personal finance Q&A, Weston responds to a […]

Is a reverse mortgage a good retirement strategy? Yes — well, for some people.  “Reverse mortgages have their place, but the problem is that they’re sold to people who shouldn’t have them because it doesn’t work for them,” Craig Smalley, a financial adviser and certified estate planner, tells MarketWatch in a recent column. “They are […]

While various news articles continue to tout how reverse mortgages can help struggling Americans through their retirement years, a recent ABC News column expresses a more cautious attitude, noting that “reverse mortgages may back you into a corner.” TV commercials and celebrity spokesmen — including former Sen. Fred Thompson, of American Advisors Group’s longstanding reverse mortgage […]

In the complex world of home equity conversion mortgages (HECMs), a certification process would make it easier for seniors to navigate these financial products, writes Jack Guttentag, of The Mortgage Professor.  And the best way to do so? Label them “kosher.” 

In contrast to a recent column suggesting American retirees are doing just fine on the road to retirement, letters to The Wall Street Journal indicate otherwise.  Andrew Biggs’ and Sylvester Schieber’s Sept. 29 column, “The Imaginary Retirement-Income Crisis,” stirred a heated discussion among WSJ readers, who wrote in to tell the writers that their conclusion was drawn […]

In mid-December, the Wall Street Journal published an article asserting the Federal Housing Administration should pare down its reverse mortgage support. In response, the WSJ last week published an op-ed by National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association President and CEO Peter Bell pointing to the disservice done by the publication in its assessment. In the original […]

The last few years of running a business in the reverse mortgage industry has been a wild ride. From principal limit reductions to lender exits, it has been anything but boring. But after what seemed to be one negative after another, things seem to be changing now for the better. After a few extremely challenging years […]