Any business trip warrants considerable attention to preparation. If you will be attending the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association annual meeting in Chicago, here are some tips to help you get the most from the conference.
“Change is as good as a vacation”. Perhaps. With today’s portable digital technology, many of us can enjoy the benefits of working remotely outside of the office.
As we approach Thanksgiving, the old telephone company slogan is apt, especially when it comes to elders, who may not make new friends as their old friends die or move away.
There’s a powerful quote attributed to Audrey Hepburn: “As you grow older, you will discover you have two hands: one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.”
Traditionally, Thanksgiving was a time to express gratitude for the prior year’s harvest. Perhaps our own sense of sufficiency, whether in terms of friends or finances, stems from how grateful we are the rest of the year for gifts already received: gratitude itself is a form of largesse. Being thankful shifts our focus from lack to abundance, and aligns (or realigns) us with our values.
Alone or All One: A Subtle Shift
Indigenous cultures inherently model this sense of sufficiency. Because they live close to Nature, they haven’t lost touch with their own nature. The philosophy “unto the seventh generation” holds that in all of our decisions, we should consider the impact seven generations in the future (approximately 140 years). It’s a concept often lost in a culture of immediacy. What it means is that in lieu of feasting until our bellies are bloated and then spending the following day shopping till we drop, there are other ways to show gratitude for a good harvest, metaphorically as well as literally.
How might reverse mortgage professionals help alleviate the epidemic of loneliness among seniors today, and fulfill Hepburn’s maxim? Here is one LO’s example:
“Last week I visited a male friend who is now 102 years old and undergoing rehab treatment in a restorative care facility. We have been friends for many years, and he is someone I greatly admire. He was in bed and weak, but clearheaded, retaining his sense of humor. I was there for a short while and brought him a bag of Hershey miniatures — his favorites.
“After I left, I thought to myself, ‘I sure feel good about this visit, and I know he did as well.’
“Another example is a family friend in failing health, whose activities are severely limited now. Her diet is restricted as well. I decided to make a batch of chicken salad for her and her caregiver — no salt added — and brought it to her. She was just thrilled. Again: the fact that someone was thinking about her and cared.
“My point is:
“We help others through our work, but sometimes we don’t do enough for our families and our friends.”
Enough Love to Spare and Share
Inspirational speaker and author Bob Perks’ signature story, “I Wish You Enough” also exemplifies the inestimable value of this essential connection to those we care about, particularly seniors.
Perks overheard a father and daughter saying goodbye at the airport. They hugged, and the dad said, “I love you. I wish you enough.” She, in turn said, “Daddy, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Daddy.”
After the daughter departed, the father, struggling to contain his tears, shared that this was a final farewell. Perks asked why.
“I am old and she lives much too far away. The reality is, the next trip back would be for my funeral,” he said.
Perks then questioned, “When you were saying goodbye I heard you say, ‘I wish you enough.’ May I ask what that means?
“He began to smile. ‘That’s a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone.’ He paused for a moment, and looking up as if trying to remember it in detail, he smiled even more. ‘When we said “I wish you enough,” we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them,’ he continued, and then turning toward me he shared the following as if he were reciting it from memory.
“I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish enough ‘Hello’s’ to get you through the final ‘Goodbye.'”
Giving and Receiving the Gift
This Thanksgiving, no matter where you are, no matter what your circumstances, decide to celebrate your life, and the lives of those you serve, whether in the capacity of HECM loan originator, as a friend, or both. Rejoice in the enough-ness that you are, simply by virtue of being alive. Give the gift of enough to those you love, and allow your gratitude to expand in every direction.
That’s the true Thanksgiving spirit, hands down.
A banker lends you his umbrella when it is sunny and wants it back when it rains. So says the well known joke about the sad state of consumer lending.
“After the recession, our clients called, telling us that their banks had canceled their lines of credit, even for people who had good credit. That’s the time when you need it most.” These are the words of John Salter, notable financial expert and principal at Evensky & Katz as quoted in a recent CNBC article “Putting it in reverse, advisors warm to reverse mortgage”.
As unprepared American retirees face dwindling options to access credit or home equity, the reverse mortgage continues to deliver. Hard learned lessons are usually embraced as a cautionary tale. Unfortunately, the American consumer has an exceedingly short memory when it comes to the lessons taught by the 2008 financial crises. Few understand or remember the significance of artificially low interest rates, the false security of rising home values, HELOC payment resets and the fallout of rising interest rates. Fortunately, older homeowners have some remaining viable options to access cash in their non-working years. One option remains while many march on, unaware of the potential financial time-bombs that lie ahead. The Home Equity Conversion Mortgage.
Every senior homeowner should take a hard look at their financial state…
Download a transcript of this episode here.
Looking for more reverse mortgage news, commentary, and technology? Visit ReverseFocus.com today
There is a lot we were never taught in school. Beyond learning how to cook in high school home economics class most of us were never taught how to be productive. Like most professionals my indoctrination into the tenets of productivity was a self-taught effort fraught with countless mistakes, missteps and the satisfaction of finding a system that works.
More important than the mechanics of productivity and time management are the underlying principles of unleashing our productivity. Here are just a few stranger secrets of productivity to consider.
Going meta. Albert Einstein said, “a problem cannot be solved at the same level of thinking in which it was conceived.” Going meta is to go a level above. The term ‘meta’ is gaining popularity in modern culture. Simply put it means to operate one level above. Einstein suggested going meta in the early part of the day.
Avoiding the grey zone. We don’t live in a black and white world. We operate in the reality of the grey, between day and night, love and hate, understanding and confusion, and ultimately being focused and unfocused. In his book, ‘The Power of Full Engagement’, Tony Schwartz defines the grey zone as an unproductive state between where you are not fully focused and also not truly resting. It is unrealistic to expect ourselves to be in the zone during the entire…
Download a transcript of this episode here.
Looking for more reverse mortgage news, commentary, and technology? Visit ReverseFocus.com today
Download your October 2016 Top 100 Retail HECM Lenders Report Here.
This report was compiled from data courtesy of Reverse Market Insight.
Half a century ago, when today’s Boomers where anywhere from toddlers to teens, the World’s Fair theme was, “It’s A Small World After All.” Today, this adage still rings true, but for very different reasons, says The Business of Aging publisher Lori Bitter. The silver tsunami and globalization have unified and compressed the world, so that “the population is now shaped more like a rectangle than a youth-heavy pyramid. And now, more than ever before, the most influential ideas, technologies, products, and services for seniors have gone global. They flow worldwide, sometimes in a matter of hours.”
This is good news, whether someone is considering downsizing to a senior community with a HECM for Purchase, or finding a job when you’re old, as David Allen Rivera baldly titles a recent LinkedIn blog post. Rivera, not yet 60, is hardly “old” by today’s standards, yet he considers his age a potential strike against his marketability. To counterbalance this he dove into social media, integrating a number of key platforms (LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter…) and cross-pollinating appealing profiles. He polished his resume. He writes,
“I feel it’s never too late to thrive. I don’t want to get a job where I’m tolerated; I want to work where I’m celebrated and appreciated for what I can do.”
Make Hay While the Sun Shines
One of my great teachers is a beacon for Rivera and other Boomers who may feel they’re “aging out” of the workplace before they’re ready to retire: personal growth pioneer Louise Hay.
Hay launched Hay House, now a global media company, when she was nearing 60, and, in her own words, “never looked back”. She turned 90 last month, and continues to inspire people around the world. The birthday email she sent serves as a clarion call for seniors and reverse mortgage professionals alike, since LOs are often seniors themselves:
“I rejoice in each passing year of my life.”
“I’m going to be 90 this Saturday. I choose to see my life moving in different directions, all of them equally good. Some things are even better now than they were in my youth. My younger years were filled with fear; my todays are filled with confidence.
“My own life didn’t really begin to have meaning until I was in my mid-40s. At the age of 50, I began my writing career on a very small scale. The first year I made a profit of $42. At 55, I ventured into the world of computers. They scared me, but I took classes and overcame the fear. Today I have three computers and travel with my iPad and iPhone everywhere! At 60, I had my first garden. At this time, I enrolled in a children’s art class and began to paint. At 70 and 80, I was more creative and my life continues to get richer and fuller.
“I still write, I lecture, I teach through my actions. I am constantly reading and studying. I own a very successful publishing company and have two non-profits. I’m a dedicated organic gardener. I grow most of my own food. I love people and parties. I have many loving friends. I travel extensively. I also am still painting and taking classes. My life has really become a treasure chest of experiences.
“These can be the most rewarding years of your life. Know that your future is always bright, no matter what your age. See your later years becoming your treasure years.
“Instead of just getting old and giving up and dying, let’s learn to make a huge contribution to life. We have the time, we have the knowledge, and we have the wisdom to move out into the world with love and power.
“Step forward, use your voice, get out in the world, and LIVE!”
Septuagenarian Sing-along
Speaking of “using your voice”: a humorous greeting card shows two geriatric groups sitting on opposite ends of a sunroom, shouting at each other, “Stones!” “Beatles!” “Stones!” “Beatles!” Both sides would have celebrated in October, when the headline acts that defined a generation graced the same stage over the course of two long weekends.
Desert Trip was a concert extravaganza for the books. Dubbed, “Oldhchella” (a play on the name of an annual music festival that takes place in Coachella, California each spring), the line-up of legends included The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Neil Young and The Who — septuagenarians all — playing for an equally vintage audience. And lest anyone minimize the cultural influence of rock ‘n’ roll, coincident with these performances Dylan received the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature (the first musician ever to win the prize for literature) — before which, notes the LA Times, he was “merely the Shakespeare of our time.”
As Renaissance mentor and Boomer Bruce Cryer makes clear, aging is a state of mind. Louise Hay demonstrates how we can start when we’re already past midlife and create an amazing future that just keeps glowing brighter.
May your reverse mortgage clients and prospects move forward with faith, not fear, to create the beautiful tomorrows a HECM helps them envision. Because, as Oldchella confirmed, when Boomers rock, it’s with a guitar, not a chair!
Necessity is the mother of invention. For the reverse mortgage industry one could say that necessity has pushed us into reinventing the image and application of the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage.
One could argue that the first 15 years of the HECM were simple. A straightforward product, few complications, and generous qualification guidelines for seniors seeking access to much-needed funds in their non-working years. Without reciting the litany of product changes and regulatory overlays it is safe so say that today’s reverse mortgage has been slowly transformed into a loan that is expanding its reach while facing a shrinking pool of eligible borrowers…
Download a transcript of this episode here.
Looking for more reverse mortgage news, commentary, and technology? Visit ReverseFocus.com today
Is the tail wagging the dog? It’s a question worth consideration if we honestly examine our daily life. Are we in control, or have we built our own prison? Welcome to Friday’s Food for Thought, brought to you by Open Mortgage, where better is possible.
I’’m a highly-organized and driven individual but I will admit, I have often placed the figurative shackles on myself with my daily activities, habits and choices I make. There is always so much room for improvement. Do you feel your daily routines are controlling you, slowly grinding you into dust? That’s no fun. Try these ideas to design your daily life into something you enjoy rather than dread.
1. Get organized.
Clutter increases stress…
For decades the federally-insured reverse mortgage, or HECM, has been generally viewed as a ‘loan of last resort’ by both the media and the financial planning community at large. In recent years, our industry has made notable inroads with financial professionals who have begun to embrace the strategic use of a reverse mortgage in retirement income planning. However, one financial columnist says there are many situations in which the using the reverse mortgage as a last resort is the best resort.
Dirk Cotton’s blog “The Retirement Cafe” is a blog which is self-described as “retirement planning for the unwealthy”. In his most recent column “Reverse Mortgages: When the Last Resort is the Best Resort”, Cotton provides an interesting counter-argument to those who have widely embraced the strategic use of a HECM sooner than later stating, “I believe there are many retirement scenarios in which spending home equity as the last resort is the best resort”. His position stands in stark contrast to the position widely embraced within our industry as first published in the paper “Reversing the Conventional Wisdom: Using Home Equity to Supplement Retirement Income (2012)”, by Barry Sachs and Stephen Sachs.
Download a transcript of this episode here.
Looking for more reverse mortgage news, commentary, and technology? Visit ReverseFocus.com today
