Motivation Slump? Here’s What to Do


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5 Keys to Snap Yourself Out of a Slump

Despite your talent, dedication, or drive every one of us can fall into a slump. Perhaps it’s due to burnout, poor health or personal problems. No one is immune. We often think that successful individuals achieve due to their abilities, education, pbear-slumpgood looks or natural talents. Truth be told while these may help, the only thing that will keep us on target is motivation.

Here are some keys to staying motivated and overcoming a productivity slump.

1. Revisit your mission. Ask yourself why you are working as a reverse mortgage professional? What drew you to this particular line of work? What is your end-game? If your motivations are purely monetary you are unlikely to snap out of a funk, especially when your income is down. Larger motivations of helping seniors, solving problems and working with other professionals toward a common goal are more likely to rekindle your internal motivation.

2. Seek support. If you’re married or have a partner it is imperative that they support what you do. This doesn’t mean we have to share …

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Discreet Tech for Dapper Elders


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Part Two: New Boons to Aging in Place

“I had to replace all kinds of lights this week,” a father told his daughter when they spoke on the weekend. “It seems every bulb in this 50-year-old house blew at the same time, including the floodlights.”

She listened to his recital with growing concern and only one thought in mind: “Dad, were you climbing on a ladder to change these bulbs?” “Yes, but only a few steps. No big deal,” he replied. She explained that while he was in good shape for his age, elder bodies, like old light bulbs, can suddenly falter without warning — and ladders are dangerous at any age. He wouldn’t hear it, declaring he was fit as a fiddle and she was worrying needlessly.

Aging isn’t what it used to bereverse mortgage news

Granted, this is not your parents’ (or grandparents’) aging process. But as we noted in New Boons to Aging in Place / Part 1, more than half of those 80-plus fall every year — and they’re not climbing on ladders. What’s the solution? Discreet elder tech.

Here are four leading-edge solutions that reverse mortgage professionals may want to suggest, as appropriate, to prospects, clients, family members and other seniors in your sphere of influence.

PERS for the home

Consider EchoCare, which describes itself as “an elderly care home observer.” This non-intrusive PERS (personal emergency response system) issues automatic alerts for safety and emergency situations — and includes a disruptive fall detector with a very low rate of false alarm. The best feature for seniors who bristle at wearing a PERS pendant, watch or other device? It’s non-wearable.

Once installed in a standard-size senior apartment, EchoCare continuously monitors four essential body indicators (location, posture, motion, respiration) using a low-power radio frequency sensor that does not compromise the resident’s privacy. When the system determines an emergency situation has occurred, it sends an alert to the designated contact person. In addition to being a resource for falls, EchoCare also recognizes situations such as sleep stress (e.g., sleep apnea), prolonged time in the bathroom, hyperventilation, and no time in the kitchen (is the senior eating properly?).

Diagnosis before disease 

Some seniors might not mind a PERS, wearable or home-based, but may object to going to the doctor if they feel fine. Iowa startup ITR Diagnostics is addressing non-invasive medicine by developing digital biomarker panels to help physicians and researchers identify and monitor patients with neurological diseases (such as Parkinson’s disease). During an annual checkup, doctors will be able to detect serious disease years before it develops.

Early detection and diagnosis, especially with neurologic conditions such as Parkinson’s, which are often not diagnosed until late in disease progression, will allow people to make changes sooner that can benefit their health and overall quality of life.

Data-driven support for families 

What if an elder’s family members need support? MyndYou is a mobile platform that monitors cognitive, physiological and behavioral parameters to provide data-driven dementia care insights.

Its first feature is MyndYourDrive, designed to alert families of people with early stage cognitive deterioration about when someone needs to relinquish the car keys. As we’ve explored, giving up the independence of driving can be devastating for seniors. Yet with or without cognitive impairment, seniors are outliving their ability to drive safely by an average of 7 to 10 years, according to the AAA (American Automobile Association). Now families will have data to back up their concerns.

Like hearing aids for the eyes

Finally, NuEyes has developed smartglasses to help the visually impaired see again. While not safe to use on the road, NuEyes (built by two veterans using technologies originally designed for military use) works with someone’s existing prescription eyeglasses and functions similar to a tablet or smartphone, streaming images via a built-in digital camera. NuEyes look somewhat like VR (virtual reality) goggles — and to a person with low vision, may feel like that when they first put them on and experience the joy of seeing again.

It may not be possible to keep determined seniors from performing the household tasks or living the lifestyle they’ve managed successfully for seven, eight, or nine decades. But at least the support to monitor such activity is becoming available for families’ peace of mind.

Examining the Underserved HECM Market

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MIT study reveals more detail about potential HECM market

reverse mortgage newsWe’ve heard for years that the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage has only been utilized by 2% of retired homeowners. We also know that reverse mortgage volume has fallen dramatically from its historic high endorsement volume of 114,000 units in 2009 to  48,900 units for the fiscal year 2016. What is our true market potential of not only age eligible homeowners but those who could potentially qualify.A recent study released by M.I.T. this summer provides a clearer picture of our missing market potential.

This summer, MIT released a 92-page study to estimate the percentage of retired households with sufficient home equity that could best use a reverse mortgage. The study analyzed 3,730 retired households with…

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Questions you should be asking


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Here’s why some qualified prospects are saying ‘no’

When you meet with a prospective reverse mortgage borrower what do you want? Facts, figures, account balances? Or in addition to the necessary information you must gather, do you want something more revealing?reverse mortgage news

The truth is even if you find a qualified, or even ideal reverse mortgage candidate who looks great on paper they may choose to put off getting a reverse mortgage. Why would an ideal candidate do such a thing? I’m certain most of you have found yourself asking that question when leaving an appointment. If qualified and possibly motivated borrowers are saying no it could be because you’re not asking the right questions.

With the increasing requirements to gather additional financial information as evidenced in the Financial Assessment we can find ourselves missing the opportunity to ask open-ended questions that uncover motive, state of mind, values and more. Here are just a few potential questions we can add to our sales toolset today.

  • What’s going on in your financial life today?
  • Have things changed?
  • You mentioned that you want to…

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New Boons to Aging in Place


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Part One: Modify the Nest, Select a Silver Housemate

It’s a situation many children face as their parent’s age: the older generation, accustomed to being the ones who know best, chafe at the suggestion they’re not as agile as they used to be. “Grab bars, handrails? What are you talking about? I’m in good shape!”

reverse mortgage newsAnd this may be true — for now. But time is inexorable, and while making home modifications after an event is “better late than never,” it’s already too late if a senior has fallen and broken a hip. Despite an elder’s sense that they are still as spry as they once were, the reality is, over half of those 80 and older fall every year. That’s a scary statistic.

Tax credits for home modification

Fortunately, several states have begun offering tax credits to help older adults age in place with greater accessibility and safety. Virginia, Illinois, Rhode Island and Maryland lead the charge. Virginia’s Livable Homes Tax Credit, for example, is available to homeowners of all ages, and especially attractive to Baby Boomers, who are now between 52 and 70 years old, and in general more open to the idea of an aging-in-place retrofit than their parents might have been.

One couple in their mid-sixties who still work (one spouse full time, the other part-time) installed shower grab bars when they built their new home a few years ago. It just made sense, they said, even though they’re both in good health. The home’s French doors are wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair, should that ever become necessary, and, with one exception, the interior thresholds are low and easily navigable.

Home modification can also be a boon for the differently abled, for whom a HECM is one important piece of their aging alliance.

But having a home equipped to serve seniors throughout their later years is still just part of the puzzle. The missing piece is often companionship.

Beyond four-footed friends

Many seniors enjoy the love of a cat, dog, bird, or other animal friend in their later years, especially if they’ve lived with pets much of their lives. A purring fluff ball curled on someone’s lap, or a faithful canine that offers both protection and assistance, can be a blessing for a senior who has lost his or her life partner and has no close friends or relatives. Sometimes, though, animals are not enough.

While a reverse mortgage can help pay the bills, it won’t relieve the loneliness that is epidemic among older people, or provide friendship, no matter how understanding the loan originator.

Enter Silver Nest, a unique roommate-matching service for Boomers and empty nesters with space to spare. A seamless, end-to-end solution, Silver Nest handles all the details, from pre-qualifying potential housemates, to arranging the interviews, drafting leases and collecting the rent. It’s the next generation of home sharing, and a good complement to an aging in place retrofit. It’s also a smart way for someone looking for a housemate they can trust, or who loves elders (or both!) to find the right home sharing arrangement.

Aging in place is destined to become huge over the next few decades as the largest cohort in history greys the globe. Tax credits for home modification and intergenerational home sharing are two creative ways to help make this time of life more joyful and affordable for everyone involved.

An Identity Crisis for the HECM?

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reverse mortgage newsThe HECMs identity, purpose, and true intent

Anyway you slice it, the reverse mortgage industry is struggling to get back on a positive trajectory. Not surprising considering the glut of regulatory changes and product revisions we have absorbed in recent years. The silver lining is the immense market potential that lies ahead. The uncertainty lies in the question, what will the HECM program look like in the future?

Beyond regulations, product changes and product restriction we face another quandary, a crisis of identity and purpose. Much of the HECM’s identity crisis can be attributed to our traditional needs-based borrower of yesteryear…

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50th Birthday Reset



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Growing New Brain Cells:

We’ve discussed memory loss and dementia prevention, including how technology now allows people to Google their own minds. But what if we could simply grow new brain cells? According to neuroscientist Sandrine Thuret, we can — and she provides practical tips to help our evolving brains improve mood, increase memory formation and prevent the decline often associated with aging.

It turns out the hippocampus is aptly named: it really is a “school” for neurogenesis. This part of the cerebral cortex, which has to do with memory, can regenerate — so it is a lot like being a perpetual student. Neuroscientists estimate we create 700 new neurons a day in the hippocampus, which might not sound like much, given the billions of neurons each of us has. Yet by age 50, every person will have undergone a complete neuron exchange. In this sense, the second half of life is literally about renewal, because our brains are brand new.

reverse mortgage newsDon’t Block That Brain!

Blocking may be an asset in football or knitting, but it’s a detriment when it comes to the brain. Reverse mortgage professionals, take note: if neurogenesis is blocked, someone can appear hopelessly depressed, even on antidepressants. Thuret tells of a cancer patient who was cured of her cancer yet remained severely depressed, because the chemotherapy had blocked neuron development. Without the ability to generate new neurons, her brain retained its memory of depression and pain.

This discovery has major implications for seniors, especially those on multiple medications, who may not actually be depressed — or may be able to heal from depression — except that their brains are being stymied in creating the new neurons they need.

There are many simple choices we can make daily that will enhance neurogenesis, as both Thuret’s TEDtalk and this hippocampus post enumerate.

Neurogenesis In Action

One age-defying elder has taken full advantage of his 50th year “rebirth” to continually reinvent himself, earning him an A+ in living life to the fullest. The two-minute video inspires.

Former HeartMath CEO, Stanford University adjunct faculty, “cancer survivor and double hip replacement thriver” Bruce Cryer is another neuron new man who says, “I don’t believe in aging.” He declares, “I’m 63, feel like 33 (most of the time), and prove to myself daily that aging is what we choose to make it. I’m dancing on two titanium hips, singing like I did in my 20s, creating new businesses and developing new skills. Retirement isn’t in my future, ever. I’ve had a renaissance, a rebirth from old ways of thinking and living, and I’m having more fun and more adventure than ever.”

Nourishing Senior Neurons

It turns out that calorie restriction has a positive impact on neurogenesis, so while many may balk at eating less in order to nourish their brains (which sounds counterintuitive), what a senior eats is much more important in the long run than how much.

Diets high in saturated fat, sugar, and alcohol are neurogenesis negatives. But all is not lost: resveratrol (found in red wine) is good for the brain. As always, moderation is key.

Intriguingly, food texture plays a vital role as well. Soft food diets (which many seniors may be on due to dental issues) have been found to impair neurogenesis; apparently, regular crunching — apples, carrots, nuts — is necessary for optimal brain function.

Other brain-enhancing foods include:

• Blueberries
• Omega 3 fatty acids (found in salmon, walnuts, chia seeds)
• Curcumin (found in the spice turmeric)
• Flavonoids (found in parsley, citrus fruits, wine and cocoa)
• Folic acid (one of the B vitamins, found in leafy greens, nuts and seeds, avocados, carrots, and a host of other foods)
• Zinc (found in beef and lamb, chicken, beans, nuts, and certain seafood).

Proof that dark chocolate is good for you? Josie began working at the Ghiradelli Chocolate Factory in 1966, when she was 36. Do the math: she’s now 86, with “no plans to retire”.

So proper diet and exercise really do help the aging process — and, barring medications that prevent new neuron formation, will continue making older brains new again.

 

Will Our Industry Bounce Back?

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What will it take for our industry to bounce back?

reverse mortgage newsDespite the increasing need of retirees whose largest asset  is typically their home, our industry volume continues to languish. Is it because our market is dysfunctional as the Mortgage Professor opined due to fear, confusion, and ambiguity? It is the increasing burden of regulation, product changes, and reduced lending ratios?

Mark Miller penned a column in WealthManagement.com that warrants consideration and reflection for HECM professionals entitled “Are reverse mortgages on the comeback trail?”. He asks the question, “will financial planners resuscitate the reverse mortgage?”. One could argue that recent changes to the HECM program have pushed the loan into the realm of…

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