Aging in Place the Next 30 Years

Aging in Place- the next 30 years

This is a great article written about how our society needs to deal with the aging population over the next 30 years.

The article is timely for people over 55 - their families, realtors, builders, and home care agencies.

I hope you enjoy it!

Diane

Coming together for Caring

(repost)

Coming Together to Make Aging a Little Easier

By ELIZABETH POPE

Published: September 15, 2011

LAST summer, Shoya Zichy was about to drop off a prescription at a friend’s house when she tripped and dislocated her elbow in Midtown Manhattan.

Enlarge This Image

Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times

SUPPORT NETWORK Charlotte Frank, right, with members of the Caring Collaborative, Shoya Zichy, left, and Pam Ramsden, at Ms. Frank's apartment.

As Ms. Zichy lay helpless on the sidewalk, Pam Ramsden came along, on her way to visit the same woman, who was recovering from a traffic accident. “I couldn’t let Shoya go to the hospital alone, so I jumped in the ambulance with her,” said Ms. Ramsden. “I’ve never seen anyone in such pain.”

Ms. Ramsden, 67, spent the next 10 hours in a hospital emergency room with Ms. Zichy and accompanied her home in a taxi at 1 a.m. “I was so grateful she was there, because I was in shock and could barely function,” said Ms. Zichy, a corporate career coach in her 60s.

The women had met once before; both are members of the Caring Collaborative, a program offering volunteer assistance to women with health problems. Started in 2008 by the Transition Network, a New York-based nonprofit group for professional women in or near retirement, the collaborative has 200 volunteers. They provide network members, who pay a small fee, with short-term, nonemergency caregiving, like pet care, meal and prescription delivery, hospital visits and escorted medical appointments. The network is not organized to help the frail elderly or provide long-term care.

Members of the Caring Collaborative also meet in neighborhood groups, organized by ZIP code, for confidential discussions of doctors, hospitals and surgical procedures. The collaborative, a pilot program available only to the network’s New York City members, is under consideration at some of the network’s 14 chapters nationwide.

That August night, Ms. Ramsden took on far more than the collaborative’s usual dog-walking or accompanying a recipient home from a colonoscopy. She corralled medical providers, lobbied for more pain medicine and tried to distract Ms. Zichy, who spent hours without food or water on a gurney in the hallway. “I couldn’t imagine being on my own in her situation,” said Ms. Ramsden, recently retired from a management position with the Episcopal Church Center.

Innovative approaches to managing some of the difficulties of aging are bubbling up around the country, often initiated by women who want to stay independent, said Alyson Burns, an AARP spokeswoman. “Women by nature congregate around shared interests, so we’re seeing informal networks popping up in church groups, book clubs, unions and lifelong learning programs,” she said.

A 65-year-old woman can expect to live at least 20 more years, often alone and in need of help to live independently, she said, “yet 40 percent of boomer women don’t know that long-term planning involves complicated decisions about your home, family and community.”

The Caring Collaborative was created by Charlotte Frank, a retired executive with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and co-founder of the Transition Network. Complications following thyroid surgery a few years ago left her dependent on friends to provide meals, take her to visit the doctor and stay in her Manhattan apartment. “Until then, I thought I was invulnerable, but without the support of my friends, I’m not sure I would have survived,” said Ms. Frank, 76. “I realized it’s critical to build a network to rely on as we age.”

Many New York professional women over age 50 — the core of the Transition Network’s membership — are single or childless and live far from family, said Dr. Diana Killip, 74, a retired internist who helped establish the Caring Collaborative. “It’s part of the protective armor of being a New Yorker that you don’t get close to your neighbors,” she said. “So who are you going to ask for help when you need it?”

The program, financed with $144,000 from the New York State Health Foundation, uses software to match caregivers and care recipients. Members can build credits by helping others and later redeem the credit if needed. (There is no need to bank credits — recipients can volunteer later.) “At first, members loved the time bank because it was anonymous and reciprocal — the world didn’t need to know you were asking for help,” said Ms. Frank. The second year, time bank usage dropped off, possibly because members became friendly in the small neighborhood groups and did not bother to report running small errands for a new friend, she said.

Transition Network chapters on Long Island and in the San Francisco area are interested in adapting the Caring Collaborative model to their geographic requirements, said Ms. Frank. The founders have also prepared three guides to help other organizations create similar networks, peer groups and “vertical villages” in high-rise apartment buildings.

Project Renewment in California, a volunteer organization for professional women in transition from their primary careers, is interested in the Caring Collaborative model. Like the Transition Network, Project Renewment members make friends in small peer groups focused on second career options, volunteering and travel, said Helen Dennis, a gerontologist and cofounder of the nonprofit organization. “We already have an informal caring community, but to get our hands on a funded and field-tested model — what a gift,” she said.

The Caring Collaborative is just a first step in resolving older women’s potential vulnerabilities, said Ms. Burns, who heads AARP’s campaign — called “Decide. Create. Share” — aimed at helping older women plan for their later years. “You need to ask difficult questions: ‘Can my home be modified so I can age in place? Does my community have services I might need? Could I afford to hire in-home care? What are my last wishes?’ ”

Ms. Zichy’s accident prompted her to look into a continuing-care retirement community in Philadelphia. “Now the only question is whether I can afford it,” she said.

And Ms. Ramsden has given thought to moving near one of her children. “It’s hard to imagine that one little trip on the sidewalk could cause so much anguish,” she said. “But it makes you think, ’What would I do if it happened to me?’ ”

A version of this article appeared in print on September 16, 2011, on page F6 of the New York edition with the headline: Coming Together to Make Aging a Little Easier.

Move Forward in Reverse - lock in home values

What if home values continue to decline? Reverse mortgages have helped people capture the value of their home during a declining market. People that took out a reverse mortgage three or more years ago received equity from their homes that has now evaporated. So if a reverse mortgage makes sense for someone today it might be time to move forward to lock in the value.
While several large banks have left the reverse mortgage industry and many people are misinformed about the product now might be a good time to investigate how this program can be a valuable tool.
Often times the most valuable asset people have are their homes. For people over 62 the reverse mortgage allows them to tap into this asset. Home equity has been falling since its peak in 2007. Despite this decline the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association estimates there is $3.2 trillion in equity sitting out there that is untapped.

The Time is RIGHT
While reverse mortgages continue to be used by a tiny percentage of eligible homeowners it might be a good idea to talk to your financial planners or family members and lock into the program.
1. If you have a home that's worth more than $417,500 the temporary loan limit of $625,000 is set to expire at the end of 2011.
2. The future of the program is uncertain, all government programs are subject to deletion.
3. The reverse mortgage can provide funds necessary for anyone who is laid off or having financial difficulty in this weak economy.
4. Look at the reverse mortgage as a way to lock in the home's current value and protect the equity

Earlier this year Ginnie Mae, which purchases reverse mortgage-backed securities, tightened the standards for these loans. Loan volume has continued to fall since it's peak in 2008.

With the introduction of the new financial assessment due out in the coming weeks it is going to become more difficult for those "in need" seniors to receive a reverse mortgage. This assessment will try to evaluate whether or not the borrower will be able to continue to pay their property taxes, homeowners insurance and maintenance on their homes before they grant the loan.

Who Qualifies?

The homeowner(s) must be at least 62 or better and the home must be their primary residence. They can not be delinquent on any federal debts but can have a small mortgage on the home that will be paid at closing. All the criteria for the loan is based on home value so the guidelines for this loan are not the same as a conventional loan. However, HUD counseling or reverse mortgage education is a mandatory requirement for the loan. This helps the borrower understand the loan and avoid being taken advantage of by an unethical lender.

There are two types of loans to choose from. The fixed rate provides the largest amount of equity you can receive from the reverse mortgage but all the proceeds must be taken at closing. Thus you begin paying interest on that amount as soon as the loan funds. This loan makes sense if you have a large mortgage or other debts that need to be paid. The second is the adjustable rate loan that provides you with many options such as tenure (a dollar amount for the rest of your lift) term (a set amount for a number of years) a line of credit that actually grows in value or a combination of any of the programs. The line of credit is a great way to have money accessible to pay taxes, medical bills etc. without having to pay it back. It also grows by 4% which is the opposite of the market value of the home. All the proceeds from the reverse mortgage are TAX FREE!!!!

As long as one of the homeowners remain in the home the loan is not due and payable. Not until the last borrower leaves the home by death or disability does the family need to start looking into selling or refinancing the home. Once that event occurs the loan must be repaid, with interest. Any money remaining after the loan is satisfied goes to the borrowers or their heirs.

An example of the application of this product was a 77 year old lady in Arizona that took out a reverse mortgage to purchase a home for her daughter down the street from her so that she could help take care of her. The daughter now had a mortgage -free home and lives near enough to care for her mother.

Recently FHA introduced the Saver Loan. The good news is that the upfront costs of the loan are greatly reduced but so is the amount you can borrow. In some cases you will also pay a slightly higher interest rate. The volume of these Saver products has more than doubled since January. They are now about 10% of all new reverse mortgages according to John Lunde, president of Reverse Market Insight. It seems borrowers are getting younger and utilizing the product for retirement planning.

While home equity may have declined from it's peak, smart planning can allow people to fund their retirement by tapping into it.

New Reverse Mortgage Product Saves Seniors Money

I've been doing reverse mortgage for over five years and one of the largest drawbacks of the loan was the upfront origination and servicing fees. This has made this a very expensive loan. I'm very proud to say I work for the first lender to listen to the concerns of seniors and eliminate those fees. Origination fees were 2% of the appraised value or a minimum of $2,500. While the servicing fees could be as much as $5,300 based on the borrowers age. So the savings could amount to $8,000 or more. The interest rate is 5.56% and is a fixed rate.
This loan is a great product for someone who wants to eliminate their mortgage payments, help out their children, remodel their home, make their home accessible, pay for medical expenses and/or homecare, travel, purchase a new home or diversify their assets.
This is the loan of the future and with the new product making it more affordable I can see reverse mortgages become part of the mainstream mortgage industry.
http://www.dianequitmeyer.com/