The "Graying" of America... is it time to revise how we look at retirement?

With boomers now turning age 62 at close to 10,000 each day and growing we are also finding the ranks of seniors being joined more and more so by those much more versed in modern finance.   Fading are the closely held notions that things like one's home are now far more than just a homestead, passed down from one generation to the next as a means of accumulating generational wealth.  Today people are finding that their home is an investment, and while it still remains a place to raise one's family, many families live in two, three, four or more homes while raising their family.  And the concept of paying of the mortgage used to purchase these homes get's extended as do the concept of the home as an important part of a family of this current generation's financial master plan.

Sadly as well many retirees are finding that it wasn't the failure to plan for retirement that is placing so many in the unenviable position of having to put off retirement or lower what expectations they have of a certain lifestyle in retirement, it is simply that plans for many "financial planners" have failed.  Keep in mind that those same planners though are quick to point out that it wasn't their plans that failed but rather the system itself...

But, for all the good that the FHA Reverse Mortgage is doing to help keep senior homeowners in their own home and provide additional income, the reality is that this is not a "one size fits all" type of solution.  Even for those who do qualify for this program it simply may not be the direction that some still choose to go.

Interesting to think though how different things are today for those reaching the age 62 than it was for those just 10 or 20 years ago.  Pensions... once the mainstay in plans for retirement have all but disappeared.  And with savings in America at an all time low, negative 1% as of last account, the implications of stark social contrast can be quite shocking, especially for those from the "Greatest Generation".   One of the underlying facts that have been difficult to plan for is that we as a population are simply living longer.  And with that longer lifespan comes a complete rethinking of everything from how long does one work or how soon one retires.  We have shifted from a "labor" oriented workforce to more "service" oriented.  In generations past where engineers took on the mantle of manual labor, sometimes quite strenuous and at time perilous, today's engineers type as their major physical exertion which brings along with it a whole new set of concerns.  But for those fortunate enough to have reached retirement with sufficient equity in their homes, there is relief, the FHA HECM.