New Survey Shows Retirees Want to Stay in Homes
An overwhelming number of people nearing or in retirement want to remain in their current home as long as possible, according to the results of a new survey released by The American College of Financial Services.
The Home Equity and Retirement Income Planning Survey found that 83 percent of the respondents do not want to relocate in retirement. "One very interesting notion was that the desire to age in place increases significantly as you get older," says survey author Jamie Hopkins, Professor of Retirement Income Planning and Co-Director of The American College New York Life Center for Retirement Income Planning. "We saw more uncertainty between the ages of 55 and 62. But once we started getting past 62 and you start moving into retirement, we saw that these individuals really don't expect or want to leave their homes." The study also saw almost no homeowners with a strong desire to rent in retirement. The survey, created to better understand retirees' attitudes about home equity and housing decisions, also revealed that 44 percent have considered using home equity in retirement, but that only 25 percent feel comfortable spending it as a source of income. It also found that only about 20 percent of the respondents felt that it was extremely important to leave their home as a legacy asset to their children or other heirs, while 45 percent listed it as not important. The results were based on surveys of more than 1,000 people between the ages of 55 and 75 with at least$100,000 in investable assets and $100,000 in home equity. About 53 percent of the participants were male, 47 percent female. 7 in 10 Don't Understand Reverse Mortgages Another purpose of the study was to gauge retirees' knowledge of reverse mortgages. According to the survey, just 30 percent of the participants earned a passing grade on basic knowledge about reverse mortgages. Furthermore, 10 percent of respondents answered all ten questions incorrectly. "This is really going to open a lot of eyes about just how little people moving into retirement with some home equity know about reverse mortgages," Hopkins says. Other key findings include:
"Hopefully that's the biggest takeaway from this survey," he says. "Advisors and consumers need to start thinking about home equity, including reverse mortgages, as part of the retirement income planning process." For more information, visit www.TheAmericanCollege.edu. |
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