Reverse Review magazine has an interesting article that examines whether or not reverse mortgages will help baby boomers answer President Barack Obama’s call to community service. Obama has called for Americans to get more involved with serving their communities. A new website, Serve.gov, has even been launched to connect Americans with volunteer opportunities. So exactly how can reverse mortgage loans contribute to senior volunteerism rates?

Fewer Bills, Less Stress
Reverse mortgage loans allow people to cash in the equity in their home, leaving them with more income for their expenses and no monthly housing payments. Some seniors on a fixed income are forced to take jobs to pay their bills, whether they want to work or not. Having income from a reverse mortgage means homeowners can have a financial cushion, so they may be in a better position to devote some of their spare time to community service.

About 61 million people volunteered in their communities in 2007, according to the Corporation for National and Community Service. Also, 31.2% of baby boomers volunteered 52 hours a year between 2005 and 2007, Volunteering in America reported.

Paul Alexander, of Hampstead, N.H., told Reverse Review: “If we had to work to pay our mortgage, that’s a different story. We wouldn’t be able to make those contributions. It is a great social plus. It [reverse mortgage] is truly one of the best things that has happened to this country in a long time.”

Reverse Mortgage Candidates
While reverse mortgages can be a useful tool for some people, they won’t work for everyone. Reverse mortgages may make more sense for people who:
—Own their home outright or owe very little on a mortgage
—Are 70 and up. Even though you can qualify at 62, it may make sense to wait to qualify for more money.
—Have high medical bills or other larges expenses
—Can’t qualify to refinance their home.

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This entry was posted on Friday, June 26th, 2009 at 5:22 pm and is filed under Reverse Mortgage . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.