Tap Home Equity for Extra Income

Home is where the heart is, but it’s also a source of regular income for many retirees.

- RIVAN STINSON

Housing wealth, better known as home equity, increased to $7.8 trillion for homeowners 62 and older in the third quarter of 2020, according to a report from the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association. That’s good news for retirees who are concerned about running out of money in retirement—as well as those who aren’t— because your home could provide the key to long-term security.

There are more ways than ever to turn your equity into a source of retirement income. Outside of a plain-vanilla refinance, retirees can access their home equity through a cash-out refinance, a home equity line of credit or a reverse mortgage. Or you can downsize (more on that on the next page) and use the proceeds to beef up your nest egg. Read on to help determine the best option for you.

Refinance Your Mortgage

For many retirees, refinancing is the best option if you need to make your money work harder for you. It’s easy to do, and although rates have been inching higher, they are still at historic lows—about 3% for a 30-year fixedrate mortgage. (Kiplinger forecasts rates to be 3.5% by the end of year.)

“If you’ve got a 4% mortgage or higher and you can go down to close to 3% or less, I can tell you without even running the numbers that you are going to save money,” says Mari Adam, a certified financial planner for Mercer Advisors in Boca Raton, Fla. “You’re cutting the mortgage payments and saving potentially thousands on interest down the road,” she says.