Baby Boomers Turning to Reverse Mortgages to Fund Their Golden Years

San Jose, CA, May 24, 2007 --(PR.com)-- The baby boom generation is trying to make sure that its golden years are not only about wheelchairs, medical scooters, lift chairs, and walkers. At least that appears to be what a recent report by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development shows. Unlike their more thrifty parents, Boomers are turning toward reverse mortgages to stay in their primary residences.

Reverse mortgages are home loans that provide people 62 years or older with the ability to turn their home equity into cash without having to move. These government regulated “Home Equity Conversion Mortgages” offer many options including lump sum, monthly cash payments, and an available credit line.

The Housing and Urban Development report showed a 77% increase in government backed reversed mortgages, bringing the total to more than 76,000 nationwide. Boomers see this as a lifestyle choice that is geared to keep them in their homes as long as possible.

Staying at Home and Maintaining Control of Healthcare

For many boomers, the motivation for tapping a reverse mortgage is avoiding or at least delaying having to move to a nursing home. With the ready cash offered by reverse mortgages, Boomers are able to deal with healthcare problems when they arise because they have the means to obtain the medical equipment and related healthcare services that might not otherwise be approved by their insurance. Unlike their parents who often passively accepted the care covered by their insurance, Boomers have learned that it often pays to purchase what they need themselves and use their insurance as a subsidy.

Getting the equipment or homecare that matches their individual needs can make the difference in their recovery and this is a generation that has never settled for the minimum. If Medicare will only pay $10 for a standard, aluminum cane, Boomers will pay the extra $35 that brings them a designer cane embossed with a desert sky motif or an “8-Ball” handle.

Serious Health Events Don’t Have to Change Everything

When a spouse suffers a stroke or breaks a hip, it often initiates a series of events that causes seniors to sell their homes and move to independent or assisted living facilities. Medicare limits how much it will spend in the areas of medical equipment and in-home care. Reverse mortgages give seniors the ability to acquire the medical equipment, mobility aids, and related home care that will allow them to recover at home.

"We are seeing boomers enter that age where they place a premium on their independence. That is when they come to us for lift chairs, scooters, wheelchair ramps, and everything to equip their life," www.allstar-medical.com representative Greg McMorrow said.

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