Bridging the “Under 65” Healthcare Coverage Dilemma

It’s beautiful, but this Bridge does not get you to the other side! Retiring early by choice or necessity can still leave a financial gap before Medicare eligibility.

The Situation:

Lisa enjoyed working and was skilled with analysis and databases.  Then, life handed her some health challenges that shortened her career.  She had expected to budget for healthcare in retirement, just not so soon.  She needed a financial bridge between forced early retirement and Medicare eligibility at age 65.

Her townhome is just right for her and her three, adored 4-legged companions.  Lisa has been careful with her finances to keep her credit solid.  She had researched a Reverse Mortgage to pursue at age 62, as soon as she was eligible.  At this point, she was struggling to keep up with basics even with researching food aid, community resources and property tax deferral.

Lisa already knew her solution, she knew that accessing her home equity as a stand-by line of credit and a bridge to help pay of health care insurance before Medicare would give her financial security for the long term.  Now she just had to find the right mortgage advisor to help her.

The Challenge:

Unfortunately, finding a good Reverse Mortgage Loan Officer she could be confident in to help her through the process tuned out to be a challenge as well!  Yikes!  She tried the advertised route that led her to a call center which could only answer the basic questions. They were more interested in pushing her to sign a loan application right away. It was actually rather scary she said.

She found after interviewing more loan officers that they either were new to reverse mortgages or did only one or two a year. She felt they weren’t listening to her and that they didn’t understand the complex situation she was in. Certainly, she didn’t want to trust such a big financial step to a newbie or part-timer.

The Solution:

Finally, a social services agency referred Lisa to Kim and Cheryl, experienced Reverse Mortgage Specialists. She finally felt like she was heard and her interest would be looked after. She could move forward with confidence. They established the FHA Reverse Line of Credit, helped put together a budgeting plan and facilitated the paying off of the accrued property tax deferral through the loan proceeds.

A bridge that crosses the Medicare gap has been built, and Lisa feels secure.

Reverse Mortgage Bonus:

Lisa has enough funds to take care of overdue dental care for her – and for her 3 beloved pets.   (If you are a pet lover, we know you would appreciate this too :)

What to Do Next:

Call Kim if you have questions on the benefits a reverse mortgage can bring to your retirement financing challenges or to any seniors in your life.  With Kim’s clear communication style and wealth of knowledge will let you feel confident that you understand the process.