The National Council on Aging has created a new website,
The site was created with the help of a grant from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Investor Education Foundation. FINRA sees this as an emerging concern, explained Barbara Stucki, vice president for home equity at NCOA.
“It used to be that the only way to access your home equity was to sell your house,” said Stucki. “Now there are many more options for older adults, and it's best to pick a strategy that makes financial sense for you. Remember that the decisions you make today about this valuable asset could have a big impact on your financial well-being in the future.”
Given that home equity for low- and middle-income seniors is their most valuable asset, there is no place for them to make an error in a judgment regarding tapping it, she said.
Key among those options are that seniors can now use their home equity to take out loans, by getting a traditional home equity loan or line of credit or a reverse mortgage. They can also do a refinance into a first mortgage and take cash out.
Stucki said the site does not make specific recommendations on what action a senior should take. When a senior first enters the site, there is a “quick check” page where he or she can answer a number of questions pertaining to their financial situation.
During that quick check, the senior can specify their current situation, such as “at risk of foreclosure” or “preparing for unplanned expenses” and to view a range of possible solutions. Based on their answers, they receive an individualized report offering information, tools and consumer advice designed to help protect the value of their home.
The answers help the site to form a customized answer for the senior.
But the site is not just about seniors tapping their home equity. It does discuss the viability of other options including selling the home and relocating into a smaller property, a rental property or an assisted living facility.
If the senior does not want to go through the quick check process, there are also webpages they can click through under headings such as stay and tap home equity, sell and move, strategies to stay in your home longer, and preserve home equity and access other resources.
