Americans’ retirement funds can be greatly affected by economic uncertainty. Once individuals begin withdrawing money from their investment portfolios, the sequence of returns — the timing of when the financial market has good years and when it has bad ones — can have a major impact on wealth. This paper defines the concept of sequence risk, provides an overview of the HECM program, and shows how HECMs can buffer against sequence-of-returns losses.

Banks, credit unions, and their members can benefit from the HECM. That is because they are uniquely equipped to guide consumers through the HECM application process in a way that is less intuitive to other mortgage lenders. This whitepaper outlines the business case for banks and credit unions to add the HECM to their suite of products.

The HECM product is an effective tool to retain mature borrower relationships by delighting consumers with personalized service and a suite of products tailored to add value to all the seasons of their lives.  This whitepaper shows lenders how the FHA-insured HECM for homeowners 62 and older supports lifelong customer retention with mortgage solutions from their first home through their retirement.

As Americans enjoy longer life expectancy, they must also plan for long-term care (LTC) costs associated with aging. This paper explores how the federally-backed Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) line of credit can be used either to fund LTC insurance or as a more flexible, lower-cost alternative to LTC insurance. Included are scenarios showing how home equity can be leveraged to meet healthcare needs in retirement.

Many older homeowners looking to downsize or relocate in retirement would also benefit from financial strategies that extend retirement funds. Both can be accomplished with a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) for Purchase. This paper provides an overview of the “HECM for Purchase” program that allows older borrowers to buy their new principal residence and obtain a reverse mortgage within a single transaction.