Reverse Mortgage Case Study
Mrs Amelia Birch has just celebrated her 75th birthday and has been thinking of reassessing her finances.
She had a small amount in superannuation when she and her husband retired, but after a holiday to the pyramids in Egypt she had used most of it up before turning 70, and her husband has now passed away. It occurs to Mrs Birch that she had been looking forward to making another trip to visit her daughter, who is a missionary in Peru, but she may not be able to afford it on the Age Pension alone.
Mrs Birch does most of her banking on her home computer now that she finds it more tiring to visit a branch. She hops on the computer and uses CANSTAR’s website to research reverse mortgages and how she might be able to use some of her home equity to fund the rest of her retirement. She makes some notes, then phones her financial advisor to set up an appointment to talk over her options.
Mrs Birch asks her financial advisor about how a reverse mortgage product might work in her personal situation.