Aging Parent Project

If you haven't saved as much as you wish you had, but you own your home, you have options when it comes to your retirement income. Consider these 5 ways to turn your home into a retirement income stream. Talk with a financial advisor and tax professional to get personalized advice before making any financial moves. 1. Downsize your Home and Invest the Proceeds. Once you stop working, sell your home, buy something smaller and less expensive , then take your gains from the sale and invest them to provide an income stream. A smaller place can be less expensive to maintain, too. Property taxes may be lower on a less expensive home, since they are usually based on a percentage of the value of the property. Heating or cooling a smaller space can be cheaper, too. Alternatively, you could rent! The downside of renting is having to write a check to your landlord every month. The upside is you invest the entire proceeds of your home sale to work for you. 2. Sell your house and move to an i...

Today, many elderly Americans who cannot afford the ongoing cost of home care, assisted living or nursing home care are faced with the decision of whether or not to use their homes as a source of funding to pay for care. As many seniors have significant equity in their homes and since Medicare does not pay for assisted living or personal care at home, using one's home to finance long-term care can be a good option and sometimes it is the only option. Authors of a new study say that as the wave of aging baby boomers advances, the middle-income elderly population could find itself in a particularly problematic situation—at least when it comes to finding housing that can accommodate declining mobility and increased care needs. By researchers' estimates, in as few as 10 years, over half of middle-income adults 75 and older, won't be able to afford many of the private seniors' housing options available today. Among the study’s findings: 1 in 5 middle-income seniors wi...