Retirement? Don't Count on Your Home

Retirement? Don't Count on Your Home  

 

In recent years, many families — even those with savings on the small side — have been able to think about retirement with some measure of confidence.  The value of their homes, in most cases, has soared.

 

A study released recently by Bell Investment Advisors in Oakland, California, found that 68% of surveyed 60-year-olds count their personal residence as a retirement asset.  And of those 68%, one in four say their home represents half or more of their retirement savings.

 

The past several months, however, illustrate the risks involved in looking to your home to support your retirement.  Home prices nationwide are falling, and the decline is accelerating.

 

You might be planning to sell your house and move to a smaller and less-expensive home as you enter retirement.  What happens, though, is that retirees often end up staying where they are, or — if they do sell — buy a home of equal or greater value.

 

Interest rates, too, could have a big effect on plans you might have to tap the equity in your home, especially if you're thinking about a reverse mortgage.  With this type of borrowing, you can receive monthly payments, a lump sum or a line of credit.  The amount you can borrow is tied in large part to prevailing interest rates; the higher the rate, the less money you get from a lender.

 

In short, if the value of your home falls — which many Americans had come to assume would never happen — there's less equity to help finance your retirement.

 

Are you planning your retirement around the equity in your house?  We'd love to hear your comments on this growing trend, and how you see the market trend today affecting your retirement years.

 

Click the "Comment" link below and leave us your thoughts on this.