Reverse Mortgages for Seniors and Caregivers: What to Know Before Using Home Equity for Retirement with Kevin Guttman - Episode 204

In this eye-opening episode of the Caregiver Relief Podcast, host Diane Carbo, RN, sits down with Kevin Guttman—a senior mortgage broker, four-time Amazon best-selling author, and one of only 218 Certified Reverse Mortgage Professionals in the United States. Together, they strip away the myths, outdated rumors, and misunderstandings surrounding reverse mortgages to reveal how this financial tool is evolving into a vital lifeline for modern senior care.

🎧 What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• The Reality of "Cost-Sharing" Healthcare: Why modern Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans are shifting financial exposure to seniors, making alternative income sources necessary.
• Reverse Mortgages 101: A simple, transparent breakdown of how these non-recourse loans work.
• The Safety Overhaul: How HUD, FHA, and Congress stepped in to radically change regulations, making reverse mortgages safer for seniors than ever before.
• The "Donut Hole" and Medical Debt: A deeply personal story from Diane on the dangers of medication non-compliance due to high costs, and how home equity can prevent financial distress.
• Brokers vs. Retail Banks: Why working with an independent broker gives families the flexibility needed to navigate underwriting hurdles.
• Red Flags & Ideal Candidates: Who should consider a reverse mortgage, and who might not benefit from this type of loan.

📋 Episode Outline

• Introduction: The reality of being house-rich but cash-poor in America, and introducing reverse mortgage expert Kevin Guttman.
• Kevin’s Journey: From international nonprofit work to specializing in senior home financing.
• The Evolution of the Reverse Mortgage: Why outdated pre-2015 information still fuels public misconceptions, and the regulations that changed the game.
• How it Works in Plain English: Understanding non-recourse loans, deferred interest, and how equity is preserved for heirs.
• Debunking the Financial Gurus: Why pundits like Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman don't always have the full, licensed picture.
• Who is the Ideal Candidate? Evaluating long-term living plans, property types, and safety considerations like stairs and home modifications.
• The Healthcare Crunch: Diane and Kevin discuss the "illusion of healthcare," high deductibles, and preventable health crises due to rising medication costs.
• Real-Life Case Studies: How one couple used a reverse mortgage to settle a massive, unexpected medical bill.
• The Long-Term Care Insurance Gap: Facing the reality of skyrocketing home-health care fees when older policies lack a cost-of-living rider.
• Safe Ways to Start Learning: How families can research in "stealth mode" using trusted, up-to-date resources.

💡 Key Takeaway for Caregivers

"A reverse mortgage helps a senior homeowner remain at home, maintain their independence, and gain access to tax-free equity. It gives families peace of mind so seniors don't have to lie awake at night wondering if they can afford groceries or their next prescription." — Kevin Guttman

🔗 Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• Get the Facts: Educate yourself safely with free consumer guides, calculators, and educational videos a ReverseMortgageRevolution.com.

Are you navigating financial or medical decisions for an aging loved one? Let us know your thoughts, questions, or experiences in the comments below! Don't forget to like and share this episode to help support another caregiver in need. ❤️

Podcast Episode Transcript

Diane: Welcome to the Caregiver Relief Podcast, where we help family caregivers navigate the challenges of caring for aging loved ones while protecting their own health and wellbeing. I'm your host, Diane Carbo, RN, caregiver advocate and founder of Caregiver Relief. Did you know that millions of seniors in the United States are considered house-rich but cash poor?

They may have spent decades paying off their home, but when retirement comes, they're living on a fixed income that may not stretch far enough to cover rising healthcare costs, home maintenance, or everyday living expenses. For family caregivers helping aging parents, these financial conversations can be incredibly difficult.

Should a parent sell their home? Should they downsize? Or are there options that allow them to stay in the home they love while improving their financial stability?Today, we're going to explore one option that is often misunderstood, reverse mortgages. Today, I'm joined by Kevin Guttman, a senior mortgage broker, reverse mortgage specialist, and four-time Amazon best-selling author.

Kevin has had more than 21 years of experience helping seniors understand their home financing options, and he's one of only 218 certified reverse mortgage professionals in the country. His work focuses on helping seniors and their families make informed, transparent decisions about accessing home equity, retirement planning, and financial security.

In this conversation, we're going to talk about how reverse mortgages work, who they may benefit, and what families should consider before making this important financial decision.

Diane: Kevin, thank you so much for, joining us today. I'm real excited about this topic because what I'm seeing happening in our healthcare situation, I think reverse mortgages are going to be an option that many seniors will absolutely have to look at because of the change in the, healthcare coverage that we're going to have.

So welcome.

Kevin: Yeah. thank you, Diane. It's great to be with you today. Thank you so much.

Diane: Before we talk about reverse mortgages, can you tell us a little bit about your background and what led you to specialize in helping seniors with home financing?

Kevin: Yeah. So I grew up in a real estate home in Southern California, close to Disneyland.

And my dad was a realtor, an investor, and he also trained new real estate agents. So I grew up around real estate from, a little boy and learned about, how to look at property, evaluate property and such. And then when I started my career, I worked for a nonprofit. I used to travel around the country and, raise money for people in poor parts of the world so they could have clean water, medical clinics, schools, small business loans.

And it was very rewarding work, as you can imagine.

Diane: Yeah.

Kevin: But I was traveling way too much, like half the time, and my wife and I have five children, so I needed to be home more. So I left that in end of 2002, and she also has a real estate background and so we started flipping houses, which was a total blast and a lot of work.

Diane: Yes.

Kevin: But ultimately, in 2004, I got into the mortgage industry and, over, over time learned about reverse mortgages. back in the day, Diane, I don't know if you would know, but, they... there were some things about them that weren't great. And so I just put it on the back burner and over time, HUD and Congress and the president and FHA, these are all organizations or entities that, look at the product of the program and improve it.

They made it safer for seniors, 2014, 2015, so I got retrained in how to, offer them to people. And so yeah, for the last 11 years, I've been doing reverse mortgages. 22 years traditional mortgages, regular mortgages, but last 11 reverse mortgages. And you're right, it great option for people that are concerned about outliving their money or just need to access, more money to live on or have a buffer asset or, like an emergency fund, rainy day fund, et cetera.

Diane: Yeah.

Kevin: So that, these are some different ways that they're used.

Diane: Yeah. Many people hear the term reverse mortgage, but they really don't understand what it is. Kevin, could you explain it in simple terms how a reverse mortgage works?

Kevin: Yeah. It's just like your regular mortgage now. you own your home on title. There's a lien attached to your home, a mortgage. It's not, there's no payment required. A payment's optional, unlike a traditional mortgage. And Diane, these are non-recourse loans. What that means is the only recourse the lender has is against the sale or refinance of the home. they can't come to the borrower- And say, "Hey, pay us back," because they're not personally liable, it's non-recourse.

The way that the lender gets paid back is at the end when the last borrower moves out, the heirs or the estate or the borrowers have up to six months to sell or refinance the home. Whatever the balance is paid off, and whatever's left goes to the heirs and the estates. So in effect, it's a deferred interest loan because even though a payment isn't being made, interest is being charged against equity.

Because somebody's borrowing such a small amount, 35 to 45% loan-to-value depending upon the age, and the interest rate and the value of the home is, the formula for how much somebody can borrow, there's almost always equity left at the end.

Diane: I just recently, had a client, call me. His mom had a reverse mortgage. She's in her late 90s now, and she needs to be put in a home, developed late dementia at, in her 90s. And they were able to keep her home the whole entire time, which was wonderful because of that, reverse mortgage. And now she's, actually put on hospice a- and they put her on hospice in a nursing home.

So and that's really helped them. they knew what they were doing. They, and they made the choice that allowed her to stay in her home that she actually grew up in as a child and lived through her whole life. So I think that's really cool that they were able to do that.

Kevin: Yeah, you know what it does in essence?

It helps a senior homeowner remain at home, which something like 90-plus percent of people wanna do. They wanna stay in their home. they stay on title as an owner. They gain access to a portion of their equity, which by the way is not taxable because it's a loan, and loans aren't taxed.

And they, maintain their independence, which, you know, I just run into so many seniors who they say things like, my daughter's not gonna tell me I can't drive my car," or, "My son's not gonna make me move," or whatever.

Diane: Yeah.

Kevin: They're very independent, right?

Diane: Yeah.

Kevin: So it accomplishes a lot of things. And then you hit on something which I'm seeing more of, too, which is people are using it to just pay everyday expenses, pay off high interest credit cards, insurance. Homeowner's insurance has gone up so much. Property taxes.

Diane:Yep.

Kevin: Inflation is still high. So people are just needing more money to live on every day.

Diane: And our medical costs are going sky high, which we'll discuss later. But, we often hear strong opinions about reverse mortgages from some very well-known financial personalities. I know I've heard them myself. Why do you think there is so much misunderstanding about them?

Kevin: Yeah, there's

You're right. There's a couple famous people, famous gurus if you will, Suze Orman and Dave Ramsey. Suze Orman recently changed her stance though and now is saying that, they may be a good thing. Dave Ramsey is still holding the line that they're not a good thing. He is just against debt in general. But what I would say is, these people, smart though they are, and they generally give good advice, I do feel they're off-base when it comes to reverse mortgages, and here's why.

They're not up to date with the changes that have been made. They're not licensed. And, when you're in it every day, you see what's happening and you're up, up to date on it. But if you're just a pundit who's writing articles or on the radio or whatever, you're not following it as closely.

So they do contribute to some of the misinformation out there. And then the other thing that happens, Diane, is you have people that go online and when you go to a website, it's not always date stamped, so you've got outdated information out there from previous to 2015 before these changes were made.

Since they've made these changes and made it safer for seniors, there's so few complaints now about reverse mortgages. In fact, AARP did a survey and found that 93% were satisfied or very satisfied with the program. In other words, it was doing what it set out to do: allow a senior to remain in the home, gain access to their equity, make their monthly payment optional, maintain their independence, et cetera.

So it truly is a, an amazing program, but I always encourage people, learn about it, understand what it does.

Diane: Yeah.

Kevin: Even if you never do it, just know that it's available to you.

Diane: Now, who is the ideal candidate for a reverse mortgage, and who might not benefit from this type of loan?

Kevin: That's a great question.

Somebody who's gonna move in the next 18 months to 24 months probably isn't the best candidate. Somebody that's terminally ill may not be the best candidate. I tease people sometimes, like if I'm helping a widow, I'll tease her and I'll say, "Now, you're not gonna run up to the casino and gamble all this money away, are you?"

And they laugh and ... But it's really a topic I wanna introduce because there's so much fraud and scams among targeting seniors. you've probably heard of these, romantic interests where- Yeah, it's just terrible. So I tell people, I say, "Look, you gotta guard this money like it's, the last money you have."

You wanna

Diane: Yeah

Kevin: You wanna treat it like rainy day fund. Only use it if you need it. Now, truth be told, they can do whatever they want with it. It's their money.

Diane: Yeah.

Kevin: The only restriction the government puts on them is they can't, buy an annuity with the money. 'Cause in effect, they're already unlocking that equity and annuitizing it.

They're, they can get monthly payments from their equity to them. So the government just doesn't want them to tie it up for more time or more money than they've already paid. But yeah, somebody that maybe hasn't managed their money that well, it's probably not the best option. Somebody that wants to leave all of the equity to their children or their heirs, this is not the best option.

But what I always ask people, Diane, when there's a family member involved, I'll say, what's mom and dad's options?" They can sell, but they gotta go live somewhere and pay rent or something, or they can move in with you, and both of them grown. The kids don't necessarily want it, and the parents don't necessarily want it.

They love each other, but they don't wanna live under the same roof. Or I'll say, "Are you in a position to help mom and dad financially? they're tied on their budget every month. Can you pitch in and help them pay for the things they need?" you've probably seen this statistic that a lot of seniors forego buying all of their medications or prescriptions.

Diane: Yep

Kevin: Because they don't feel like they can afford it. It's just so tragic.

Diane: That's been going on, Kevin, that's been going on for decades. In fact, they hit the donut hole, so to speak. It's usually in, September or October for a lot of ones that people that take a lot of the medications. That's why I'm hoping this Trump, Rx is gonna work because, I was a victim of it.

I literally was given a medication for pain management, and it's a antidepressant, duloxetine, and I hit my donut hole in November, and it was gonna... the medication with the pharmacy benefits manager determined that it would cost me $700 a month for the next two months till January hit. And I was like, "Hey, I'm an old nurse.

Duloxetine's been around for a really long time. It's in generic form." And it's just greed of big pharma, and I literally went through withdrawal because I couldn't get the doctor, to help me, get a short prescription so I could wean myself down, and I went through...

It's terrible withdrawal. It's called SSRI, selective serotonin reuptake. And it's really, real for people that take antidepressants, and it was awful. But I, it helped me with my pain, it was the only thing that ever worked, and I will not be held hostage to a medication because it's going to cost too much.

And I have seen there are 125,000 preventable deaths due to a lack of being compliant with medications, and it happens because people hit their donut hole, and it's been happening for decades. So it's really sad. That's why I, people, I understand what they go through. They... And, and Kevin, in all honesty, what I'm seeing is Medicare has moved to a cost-sharing plan, and we really only have the illusion of healthcare at this point in time.

I know people are gonna say, "What do you mean?" Medicare, here's a perfect example. Medicaid, Medicare Advantage plans are truly cost-sharing. They delay, they deny, and then they, or they expect high deductibles and high co-pays. I took an insurance course about health insurance 'cause I wanted to learn about what they're being taught, and it actually said in the course that the government, policymakers have decided that they will use high deductibles and high co-pays to deter the use of benefits.

Why do we have them then? Why are we paying into it? And I'm seeing unsafe discharges to home, which we can talk about in a little bit as well. But I know that what's going on is why here in the, here right now in our country is very concerning to me, and that's why I wanted t- people to hear about reverse mortgages, and learn about them because, the wealthy will always be able to pay whatever treatment is recommended, services, equipment or whatever.

The middle class is going to take reverse mortgages out, they're gonna take second mortgages out on their home. They'll sell their assets to get the required, recommended treatments, services or equipment that's needed for them to have a better, quality of life through their, as they go through their health episode.

Kevin: Yeah, it is, it does feel like there's a, a crunch or a push to shift more of the exposure to, seniors, and I've heard that from other people. And, I don't know what our debt is, 39 million, trillion or whatever it is, but it's unsustainable. So in effect, the country's bankrupt, and they're trying to find other ways to fund The programs that are also close to being bankrupt, Social Security being one of them.

Diane: Yeah.

Kevin: So I'm not surprised that it's happening, but this is what... This is one of the things, as you just mentioned, that's driving the need for people to explore different ways they can access money because

Diane: Absolutely

Kevin: they're healthy, they're living longer, they don't know how long they're gonna live, they're concerned about outliving their money.

So really what this is, it's about security, it's about certainty. I have a quick story I can share if we have time.

Diane: Sure.

Kevin: The very first lady I helped was a, mother of a client, and I asked her name was Carmen. I said, "Hey, Carmen, why do you wanna do this?" And this is 2015. She says, my budget's tight."

I'm like, "Sure, I understand. help me understand though. Tell me more about that." She says, to be honest, I'm having to, use credit cards to buy groceries." So at the closing table, she lived in a duplex, the, renter paid her mortgage expense. And, but at the closing table, I'm doing the math, no more mortgage payment, paying off the credit cards.

It's just shy of about $1,200 a month that she was gonna save. So I said, "Hey, Carm, I know the math, what this is gonna do for you math-wise, but how's this gonna help you?" She kisses me on the cheek and she says, "I'll be able to sleep at night. I won't have to worry about money."

Diane: Exactly.

Kevin: And I thought to myself, how many seniors are laying awake at night on a fixed income wondering, am I gonna make it?

Do I have enough money? Can I buy groceries?

Diane: Yep.

Kevin: Can I get my prescriptions? It's heartbreaking.

Diane: You know, I did home care, and a lot of other different nursing too, but when I went into the homes of very wealthy or very poor, or, There were seniors that worried, no matter what income level, about whether they could afford their medications or were fighting to...

I have friends that literally sold their house to have chemo and cancer treatment. it's really sad because that was the only option they had. they sold their house so that they could pay for the cancer treatments. And, that was before Obamacare and what were going on in Medicare, but I'm just telling you that nothing has changed.

The rich are always gonna afford it, whatever they want, and the poor will do without, as they have for decades. I can tell you horror stories about that, because those on Medicaid are hard to place, hard to get, services, hard to get anything, and it's really challenging. And then the middle class always comes up with things like- a reverse mortgage or selling their house or selling their assets or whatever they have to get the services and treatments they need.

And a lot of people think, "Oh, I'm gonna have a reverse mortgage and go travel." Not. It doesn't happen that way. Kevin, I wanna ask you, for family caregivers helping aging parents make financial decisions, what are the most important questions they should ask before considering a reverse mortgage?

Kevin: One would be, how long do they plan to stay in the house? That's an important one. We like to see at least 18 months so they can recoup the fees.

Diane: Yeah.

Kevin: Another one, this is another important one, does this house suit them in this stage of their life? So think about this, Diane. You've got a couple that has raised their family and, maybe the neighborhood has changed and they don't feel safe anymore.

Maybe the house or the property's too big to maintain. Maybe the house has stairs and one of them has trouble going up and down the stairs. You wanna be sure you're doing it on a house that you're gonna live in and that is gonna be a long-term answer for that stage of life.

Because what you don't want is, to take something like this out and then say, this isn't really the best house for us. we can't maintain it. It's got deferred maintenance," or, "We don't feel safe living here." Or like I say, the stairs is an issue. So those are some big concerns that we always try to ask people just to make sure they're really making a good decision.

Diane: The majority of homes in the United States are made for the, a young, youthful body and not an aging body. And one of the things about to Age In Place is you have to make home modifications to suit an aging body. Like you said, there's a, there's steps. you may need to put a ramp in.

Or if it's steps to the upstairs, you may need a chair lift up. I'm seeing people putting elevators into their homes now. Those things are expensive. or just make the bathroom, they have to expand the door. Some people I know that have gotten reverse mortgages did those things because they felt good in their neighborhood, but the house had, was, detrimental to their quality of life, and this way they were able to stay in it longer.

Kevin: I love that. I was in a house recently and that very thing, they have an elevator. And, another home had one of those, I don't know what you call it, but it's a chair that you sit in that takes you down the stairs or up the stairs.

Diane: Yeah, a chair lift. Yeah. it's just a- Chair lift ... yeah.

Chair lift. Chair-

Kevin: People are definitely wanting to stay at home and figure out how to do that.

Diane: Yes. And, their community, if they've lived in the community for a long time and it hasn't, hasn't changed dramatically, they still have their friends here, there, their church, their organizations they belong to, those, the library that they belong to maybe or their, the book clubs.

So they wanna stay in their community as long as possible. So Kevin, what are eligibility requirements for reverse mortgage, and what does the approval process look like?

Kevin: I love that question because that's, so practical and everybody wants to know that.

Diane: Yeah.

Kevin: At least one party, one borrower needs to be 62 or older.

They need to have enough equity, probably 55 to 65% loan to val- equity, 35 to 45% loan to value. it needs to be a single family home, a town home, or an FHA approved condo or, a patio home for example. we don't look at credit score. We look at credit history. As long as they have been, current the last two years with their property charges or things that show on credit, then, they will qualify.

Most people qualify just with their Social Security income, 'cause they only have to prove they can pay the property taxes, insurance, and maintenance on the home. and that's really it in a nutshell. The qualifications are, it has to be the primary home, they have to maintain it, and they have to pay the property charges on time.

As long as they do that, they can't outlive the loan because the term is 150 years.

Diane: Wow. Oh, I know they're working towards getting us to live forever, but I think we're not very close to that yet.

Oh. Now some people worry about losing their home with a reverse mortgage. Can you explain what actually happens to the home over time?

Kevin: Yeah. So just like any mortgage, the borrower's on title and there's a mortgage or a lien attached to the home that needs to be paid. in this case with a reverse mortgage, there's no payment that's required, but when the last person moves out, a payment is due. And, we talked about the qualifications, we talked about how they're different.

Really what it comes down to is if they're gonna stay in their home and they're concerned about not having enough money or needing to access more money for things like we've talked about, updating your home, paying for healthcare expenses, or maybe property. I have somebody, they just got it to pay their property taxes and the homeowner's insurance. They said, "I don't wanna worry about that. That's one thing I wanna offload and take from my equity each year." And that's how they use it. But, the thing that people really love about it, Diane, is just the flexibility. Just having that, I guess that peace of mind maybe is a way to say it.

Diane: Yep.

Kevin: That's they're gonna be okay. They don't have to worry about their bills, about their budget.

Diane: And I think that's really important. Are there situations where a reverse mortgage can actually help families avoid financial stress or medical debt later in life?

Kevin: Absolutely.

Diane: I see that it's ... I know personally, I've seen families that have used the reverse mortgage, and it was to help their medical or their, help them pay their medical debt, which was, growing. And I'm really worried about our future because right now, as I've said before, our Medicare has moved to a cost-sharing plan, and, we only have the illusion of healthcare.

We are, if you want what is recommended, you're going to have to pay for it out of your pocket. And I think that, with the silver tsunami coming, it's here. in the next four years, or five years, we're going to see the end of the baby boomers, retiring, and we're not, we're ill-prepared for it.

We're just not ready for it. There's, we have, not enough, youth to take care of our seniors. the cost for things is going to go sky high as far as needing services. We're gonna depend on computers and robots to provide care, which is gonna cost seniors. And the ones that have it will be able to get those services and pay for it.

So I can see that, reverse mortgages may be the way people have to go in the future, to be able to remain in their homes as they age and have some sort of quality of life and, financial, security for them.

Kevin: You know what this makes me think of as you say that about paying for medical expenses, I remember a client probably back in 2018 They had come to me, referred to me by their financial planner, who actually didn't believe in reverse mortgages.

And the couple went to see their financial planner and they said, "We wanna get a reverse mortgage." And he said, "That's not a good idea. And what do you need it for?" and she said, "We need to pay a medical bill." And he goes, "How much do you need?" She goes, "100 and, $104,000." Yeah. And he goes, "No, that's not a good idea."

She goes, "Okay, then we need to withdraw money from our investments." And he goes, why don't we look at a reverse mortgage?" So the story is she bought health insurance knowing that she had to have a procedure done. And she, got the operation done, and then she gets the bill and it was like 170,000 or something.

So she sent it into the insurance company and they denied it. And she's wait a minute, I have health insurance." And they helped her read the fine print, which- ... which is maddening. And turns out she owes it, she owes that money, even though she had health insurance. Yeah.

Diane: Oh, I know.

Kevin: It goes back to what, it goes back to what you said before.

The insurance companies are pushing more to the consumer away from the company.

Diane: Yes.

Kevin: So long story short, she negotiates with the hospital and they say, "If you pay us within X time, we'll reduce the bill from 170 to 104." So that, that's how they used it. And really what happened, this was one of the stories I put in my book because,you mentioned earlier about how they have a negative, reputation.

And so I wrote a book, the very first book, called The Swiss Army Knife for Retirement Cash Flow. And the idea, yeah, the idea behind it was to just share stories of how people, my clients, how they've used a reverse mortgage to improve their lives in five areas: housing, medical, travel, legacy, and I forget the fifth one off the top of my head, but there's five categories I put these stories in.

And they're actual, they're just, they're stories of how a reverse mortgage has impacted their life. And I can't tell you, Diane, how many times people have called me or I've seen them out in the community and they'll say, "You have no idea how much this has helped me."

Diane: Yeah.

Kevin: So it's a blessing. It's not, it may not be the option for everybody.

Diane: Yeah.

Kevin: But again, I think everybody should look at it and learn about it and decide for themselves. Not listen to what Dave Ramsey or Suze Orman or their uncle's brother's neighbor's cousin's friend says, right?

Diane: Yes.

Kevin: Somebody so f- removed from them, they don't know their situation.

And then the other thing I'll say too is you wanna work with somebody that does these on a regular basis, not one a year. Or, you wanna work with somebody that's closing these every month, that is up on all the guidelines and regulations and changes and nuances with different lenders, right?

Diane: Absolutely.

Kevin: So I'm an advocate of working with a broker because brokers have access to more than one lender. In fact, this month, this is April of '26, I had to move two loans from the first lender to another lender for different reasons. One of them is we couldn't get the, condo unit approved with, the first lender, but the second lender doesn't have the requirements, so we moved it to them.

The second one was the, lender, the underwriter didn't like the appraisal, so we had to move it to another option. So only a broker can do that. A guy who works for a retail shop, a specific bank or a mortgage company, they're locked into just those products.

Diane: That's a good point.

That's one of the things that, I think that my listeners will appreciate having knowledge of, to consider a broker when you are doing reverse mortgages. Kevin, I have an experience where I have a client, and this is probably gonna be more common than not, as we have the silver tsunami here.

People have bought long-term care insurance, and they didn't buy a cost of living rider with it 'cause it was too expensive. Now, 20 or 30 years later, they need to have, they need the benefits. They need to look into their benefits and start collecting their benefits. And the shock on their faces when, that the cost of living for a

Let's say you can have a nursing ... They wanna have a, an aide come into the house every day, and it used to be 20, 30 years ago, oh, they were $10, $12 an hour at best. Now, the companies ha- charge 50% to 75% more above that for administrative fees, so now all of a sudden it's $30 or $40 or $50 an hour. And what I am seeing, and I've had a personal experience with a client that did this, they literally took out a reverse mortgage to help pay the cost that the long-term care insurance didn't pay.

Kevin: I believe it

Diane: That's crazy. That's just crazy. But, they're, they thought they were prepared, they were middle class, God bless them, and they worked hard their whole life, but they didn't realize that if you didn't have that cost of living rider, you, you weren't gonna be able to use.

It wasn't gonna be equitable in, the rates that the companies were charging. So that was too bad. But, at least they had a solution. So now, what are

Kevin: And Diane, what's happening with these policies, there's very few pure long-term care policies anymore. It's just what you said. It's a life insurance policy with a rider.

Diane: Yeah.

Kevin: And it's not that much more to add the rider on, and the benefit is huge.

Diane: Yeah.

Kevin: And what I always tell people is, look, you have h- auto insurance, you have homeowners insurance, you have health insurance or Medicare. When you were working, you had disability insurance. Why wouldn't you have long-term care insurance to shift that burden away from you in your retirement years to the insurance company so that you're not wiped out, so that you're not depleting your assets, you have money left to live on or leave to your heirs?

Because I think what's gonna happen, and we talked about this before we started the podcast, but these medical expenses are gonna wipe a lot of people out because they're just so expensive.

Diane: 100%. It's already starting to happen, and I can tell you, Kevin, the day of passing your home down to your child or all your, or giving them anything in the way of, money is going by the wayside because the government has made it such that they're gonna take everything somehow or some way, and it's very frustrating.

But, that's why, And the other thing is many of the seniors can't afford to leave their homes, so they look at long, they look at reverse mortgages because, since COVID, we've had seniors lose their housing and become homeless because the rents went so high. the government was paying for all the illegals and, that secured money made that they could raise the rent of all the properties and seniors couldn't stay in.

And so we were seeing those that were renting were literally homeless. So but people that stayed in their homes, if they wanted to look, downsize and rent, they weren't able to either because it was just way too expensive. it was cheaper to stay in the home. So they looked at, other options. So can you tell me what are the most common mistakes seniors or families make when evaluating their home financing options?

Kevin: They totally omit looking at equity and that's a shame because they have these, preconceived ideas about equity or reverse mortgages, and it really is not to their advantage because like I said, a lot of times the children aren't in a position to help.

Diane: Yeah. That's true.

Kevin: So it's imperative that they look at it and have all the options on the table.

Just have an honest look to all of it and have an open mind and, make the best decision they can. But I find that people... I'll give you a quick story. We were at a theater, a play one night, my wife and I bumped into a financial planner friend I hadn't seen for a while, and this is probably 2017, 2018.

And he goes, "Hey, what are you doing now?" He knew I was in the mortgage industry, but I said, I'm, offering reverse mortgages to seniors." He goes, "Oh, those are bad." I said, "Oh, based on what?" "Oh, those are bad. I could never offer those or recommend those to my clients." I said, based on what?"

"No, I, those are just, those aren't good." I said, "But why do you say that?" he couldn't say

Diane: Yeah.

Kevin: He didn't know why ... why.

Diane: Yeah.

Kevin: He just had heard, hadn't done his own research and formed an opinion. and therein lies the rub. You've got

Diane: Yeah

Kevin: uninformed people making decisions without having all the facts.

Diane: Yes, exactly. And that's why I've asked you to be on our podcast because what I'm seeing is frightening me with people doing without medical care because they can't afford it. And, I think that this is gonna be a, the wave of the future as a real serious option for many seniors out there that are struggling with their finances or paying for medical care.

So Kevin, if someone is curious about whether this might be an option for them or their parents, what is the safest way to start learning more?

Kevin: I have a website that has a lot of great information on there. A consumer guide, which they can download for free, videos, articles, FAQs, testimonies, case studies, calculator, all kinds of things on there.

So somebody can go in stealth mode, if you will, and just start learning and reading about it. And I'd much prefer them to come to my site and get the truth than to look online or watch something that is, isn't up to date. And that website is reversemortgagerevolution.com. ReverseMortgageRevolution.com.

And then if they want to reach out to me, my contact info's on there. They can reach out and we can chat about it, answer questions, and look at what their numbers might be. But, that would be the easiest way, is just to start learning and researching, from a, in my opinion, a reliable source.

Diane: Yeah. There's a lot of deception out there, and people ready to take your money, that's for sure.

Kevin, I create a permanent page on my, on Caregiver Relief with the podcast, as well as your information and contact information, so my listeners will be able to find you, decades after, we've done this. thank you so much for your time. I appreciate you so much for doing this and sharing your knowledge.

To my family caregivers out there, you are the most important part of the caregiving equation. Without you, it all falls apart. So please learn to be gentle with yourself.

Practice self-care every day, because you are worth it.