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Reverse Mortgage Client Demographic

Locating Potential Reverse Mortgage Prospects

Sixty is the new sixty: a watershed birthday for the Baby Boom generation, who are reaching this milestone at the rate of one every ten seconds. But this is not your grandfather’s sixty, or even your father’s sixty. People who reach 60 today can expect to live at least another quarter century — ideally in good health, with vision and purpose more sharply focused than at any other time in the life cycle, due to an awareness of one’s mortality.

Management expert Daniel Pink proclaims, “When the cold front of demographics meets the warm front of unrealized dreams, the result will be a thunderstorm of purpose the likes of which the world has never seen.”

Are you poised to connect with these reverse mortgage prospects, who are redefining what it means to grow older in the third millennium?

The first step is locating them. While a sixty-something Boomer might pop into the local senior center for a game of ping-pong, she’s more likely to do so as a change of pace from her demanding marketing consulting business than simply to socialize. Thus, you’d be more likely to target this potential reverse mortgage market by broadening your scope.

Seniors And Retirement

Where do the newly minted seniors, who are creating a new life stage known as the Third Age, spend time?

Community service. Think causes: the environment, education, health care, economic change. Civic, cultural, and service organizations are attracting mature adults seeking both paid and non-paid work. These encore careers take place “at the confluence of money, meaning, and social impact,” says Marc Freedman, author of The Big Shift: Navigating the New Stage Beyond Midlife.

School. Whether they’re training for an entirely different post-midlife career, enhancing existing skills, or studying something they’ve always wanted to learn, lifelong learning is hot, as record numbers of seniors return to school in both traditional settings and online.

Health clubs. Even if they don’t aspire to swim the Florida straits or play college football in their 60s (see Pressing the Reset Button/Part 1), Third Stage adults are focused on staying healthy and fit.

Self-development classes. A yoga or meditation class, journal writing or drum circle, can provide much-needed emotional and spiritual support within a like-minded community.

Once you determine a few groups in your area that serve active older adults, start to network in these environments. Attend gatherings; you may even wish to join a group that appeals to you. Volunteer to give a talk on a topic such as “ways to fund your Third Age vision” — which would include reverse mortgage.

As you begin to build relationships with your potential market in their milieu, you’ll be the obvious choice for group members to consult when they’re considering alternative sources of income for financing future plans.

In Part 3, we’ll explore how Reverse Mortgage professionals can share their knowledge with the new demographic.