Guide to Reverse Mortgages and Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECM)

If you own your own home and are 62 years of age or older, you may have a powerful financial ally: The equity in your home. A reverse or home equity conversion mortgage (HECM) can provide a considerable amount of flexibility to your budget, can eliminate your existing mortgage, and best of all, requires no monthly mortgage payments.

However, there are pros and cons to these complex financial products, and advantages and drawbacks, too. We've prepared this guide to give you a solid knowledge of how these products can work for (or against) you, reveal, detail the choices and decisions you'll need to make and even provide outlines on how to talk to your parents (or children) about using the equity in your home to promote positive outcomes for them...and you.

We've broken down these complicated components into easy-to-digest sections... even some very technical information. Although we recommend starting from the beginning and following along, feel free to start with any topic that piques your interest!