Jean is finding her medical bills are taking much more of her savings than she had planned for. Now widowed and just past her 83^rd birthday the thought of selling her home is for her out of the question.

Anxious to maintain her dignity and independence, she inquires about a reverse mortgage.

The home she discovers is now worth $420000 allowing her at the age of 83 to access up to 40% of the value of her home being $168000 depending on which lender she chooses.

Having no relatives to call on, the money available to her is more than adequate to improve her quality of living.

The money she accesses allows changes to be made to her home to accommodate her health issues and subsidises home nursing help.

Also giving her peace of mind her rainy day money is left in tact.

 Case Study # 3

Bob and Beatrice love where they live. They have been in their home all their married life, and their children have settled nearby.

Beatrice enjoys the grandchildren and Bob plays bowls with friends he has known for years.

Bob is eighty-two and Beatrice seventy eight, they rely solely on the pension for income. Bob has been concerned for a while, as it seems life is getting more and more expensive. The car needs replacing, maintenance on their home has been slipping, and there have been opportunities to go away with friends that would have made life a little more pleasant. They manage to get along but every now and then unforeseen expenses pop up, and the only option they have is to go to their children for help.

They are not happy doing this, so they decide to investigate reverse mortgages to give them back their independence.

Their property they discover is valued at $500000. With Beatrice being the youngest borrower at 78, (the percentage of the value of the home is calculated off the lowest aged borrower) depending on the borrower they choose, they can access up to 35% being $175000. After discussing this with their family they decide to access $150,000 to replace the car, refurbish the house and repay the debts to their children.

Life has become a little easier now and they know they can access more funds if it becomes necessary.

 Case Study # 4

Mary has thought about selling her house, but at 72 and on her own it just seems too daunting, Besides, she is very happy in her home, just sick of trying to make ends meet. There is quite a lot of maintenance to be done and her electrical appliances could certainly do with an update.

She discussed the situation with her daughter who suggested a reverse mortgage loan. Her daughter assured her mother she had worked hard to pay off her home, and deserved a good standard of living.

Mary who after living alone for many years had often thought of a holiday in her native country Ireland.

After having her home valued at $290000, depending on which lender she chose she could access up to 25% ($72500), more than enough to refurbish her home and go on that long awaited holiday.

 Case Study # 5

George and Iris had turned sixty-five and were contemplating semi-retirement from their long established business: a small manufacturing business that needed capital injection to upgrade machinery and enable a small expansion.

That would in turn allow a second employee to free up George’s time, so he and Iris could join in with the golf trips up to the Murray River that they longed to do.

Taking out a normal loan would incur a debt that would have to be serviced, meaning they would have to work more not less.

The idea of a reverse mortgage loan came up and they decided to investigate, as they owned their house outright. The home was valued at $650000, this enabled them to access depending on their lender, up to 20% (being $130000), which was sufficient to cover the cost of the new machinery they required.

Now semi-retired George and Iris spend extra long weekends doing what they had hoped they would be able to do.