Larry the Cable Guy may be a redneck but he has a point. Getting stuff done is key to our personal happiness and productivity. As spring fast approaches here are seven ideas to prepare for the new season…
Continue readingGenerations / Part 1 Warfare or Welfare?
Strife and suffering are media mainstays: an old newspaper chestnut goes, “If it bleeds, it leads.” So while press and pundits would have us believe generational warfare is the way of the world, those who live and work beyond the box subscribe to a different view.
Continue readingHave You Asked?
Lately there have been several media accounts stating that much confusion remains for HECM borrowers. I have to admit I have some healthy skepticism when the media claims that reverse mortgages are still confusing for borrowers especially since the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage mandates counseling to cover the basic mechanics of the loan.
Continue readingMaximum Efficiency: Are You There?
Here are just a few ways each of us can become more highly organized and position ourselves for success in the coming months.
Continue readingDigital Durables: What’s Ahead
Attention spans aren’t just short these days; they’re bifurcated. Few people seem constitutionally capable of participating in one activity at a time. Just as the much-vaunted “paperless office” did not materialize with the advent of computers, all of our digital devices have spawned more busy-ness and fractured attention, rather than better focus.
Continue readingThe Origin of the Financial Assessment?
The Home Equity Conversion Mortgage has undergone numerous product changes, regulations, new counseling requirements and protocols and reductions to lending ratios. Much like an aging celebrity who has undergone one too many plastic surgeries one may be left wondering does the new HECM even resemble the original product?
Continue readingAre You Likable?
Likeability. It may seem irrelevant to some but I believe that it will become more essential for reverse mortgage professionals in the coming months. Look at these traits and grade yourself and see where each of us may improve…
Continue readingEnhancing Communication / Part 2: In a Different Voice
Last month we focused on leading technologies and strategies to help reverse mortgage clients and prospects with hearing loss. But what if your client can’t speak?
In the past, people turned to augmentative communication devices such as a picture board or touch screen that used pictures or symbols. The speech-impaired person might touch the image of a glass to ask for a drink. While such devices can be customized, they’re still a far cry from full communication. And they only work in face-to-face interactions.
But we live in the age of smart. Now, on the heels of smart phones, comes Smartstones.
Smartstones is, yes, a stone that enables the user to tap rather than talk, using touch and gesture to send a clear message — and at distance. With a touch or swipe as on a typical keypad, a Smartstones user can send a message that they’re on the way, feel fine (or blue), or any number of basic messages one might send with a text. The difference is, this wearable “status-casting” device is small, screenless, and goes anywhere. Designed for mobility (the key to aging in place for most seniors), Smartstones are the size of a small river stone (and resemble one) that may be worn, held, or kept in a pocket without weighing the user down. They open up a whole new meaning to “rock and roll.”
“Smartstones are the quintessential example of ‘high tech meets high touch,'” says gerontologist Katy Fike, cofounder of Aging2.0. “While the device itself is extremely high-tech, the user experience is beautifully simple and intuitive. Smartstones opens up new communication channels and ways to stay connected.”
Smartstones: prose is a new product, now in beta, that enables people with verbal communication challenges due to stroke, dementia, etc. to “speak”. With one simple touch, family members (or a reverse mortgage candidate and LO) can communicate with one another non-verbally.
The criteria for participation are:
- Person with a diagnosis of some form of communication challenge (stroke, dementia, other)Â or a caregiver that is able to help facilitate
- Own or use of an iPhone 4S or newer, iOS 8
- Ability to physically maneuver phone (e.g. able to swipe screen and move actual phone from side to side)
- Cognitive ability to utilize language skills, but unable to communicate verbally
If you know of any qualified candidates for the Smartstones beta test, have them visit this page to request participation. A quantum leap forward from personal alert systems, a Smartstone also might be the device that saves a senior’s life.
Not Surprised
The media is inaccurate, misleading and selective in reporting the facts? What’s new. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s recent release of it’s report on reverse mortgage complaints was seized upon by both the media and so-called consumer advocate groups. Surprised? No. Damaging? Possibly.
Continue readingIt’s Never Been Easy
Yes, prior to 2010 originating reverse mortgages was less convoluted, confusing and restrictive but it was also no bed of roses either. Just a few things to consider to give us perspective.
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