Today’s seniors are different. They don’t see themselves as old.

They are taking trips and buying Harleys. Some have found themselves in the roles of primary caregivers for their grandchildren. In 2000, 5.8 million grandparents found themselves the caregivers for children under the age the of 18 and that number has grown.

People don’t see themselves as retiring, taking it slow. Sitting on the porch waiting to die has no interest for them.

Some of have raised their own kids and are now raising their children’s kids. There is financial risk in that but the alternative is worst. Incomes will be challenged by this new burden.

One of the biggest challenges is the maintenance of their health under the strains of a second family or maintaining their mobility and zest for life to take trips.

As a health conscious group they plan to live longer, spend for education, spend for trips and want to stay in their own homes.

For most the retirement nest egg will not last long enough. A reverse mortgage can help keep the family together and in financial condition to meet life as it comes.

Some of today’s and tomorrow’s seniors will have different motivations for seeking a reverse mortgage based on their generational values.

Generations are cohorts and a group of people born within the same time span. That span is approximately 20 years.

People form value sets from common historical events, experiences and cultural influences. We can often project how a generation will respond to different stimulus.

Researchers have grouped specific population groups into cohorts with similar experiences. Of course, there are overlaps and underlaps within generational segments. Posts that follow this one will delve into the generational differences concerning the application of reverse mortgages.

In this post, we will examine the GI generation. They are also known as the Great Generation for their efforts in WWII and the rebuilding of Europe. They bogged down during the Vietman war and got lost in the visions thing.

They have controlled the Presidency until 1992.

Now they find that their pensions are being eroded, health care costs are climbing and the dollars they counted on aren’t going far enough.

Reverse mortgages will help this generation fund the final years of their lives.

Now the reality of reduced pension plans, higher health care expenses and eroded retirement savings are having a financial impact. The impact of corporate high jinks, tech bubbles and real estate bubbles are forcing seniors to consider extending their working lives.

Prolonging their working years because they are forced too due to financial reasons was opposed to slowing down and enjoying the remainder of their years.

These folks lived through the Depression and have been risk adverse and lived their lives accordingly. Now the risks taken by the major financial institutions have robbed them of their pensions and their portfolios.

The equity left in their homes in the form of a reverse mortgage can provide the financial stability they need.

Otherwise, will they be forced to be Walmart greeters just to put food on the table.

The question before federal and provincial regulators is how they are going to fund the building contractors, extended care nurses and other factors associated with the aged.

Where is the large cohort of the boomers going to live if they cannot stay in their homes. Combined with the potential impact of extended lives the stress on the public system will be enormous. In a nutshell the bigger picture dilemma is multifaceted – a large number of seniors, the cost of retirement homes, and the manpower to maintain this population over time.

Canada cannot afford the costs associated with the impact of this large group. The ironic fact is that most seniors would prefer to live in their own home. Very few options remain for seniors to stay within their homes for the remainder of their life times. A reverse mortgage can assist with the financing of this wish and quite necessary option to retain the dignity of seniors in their own living space.

For seniors who own their own home and have sufficient equity, a reverse mortgage provides a way to fund their health needs in their senior years.

In investment circles, the secret to success is cliche – buy low, sell high. This same principle applies to flipping houses. To succeed, you buy a house 25 to 50 percent below market value, repair and renovate the property to make it a more attractive purchase, and then turn around and sell it at market value.

That three-step process – buy, fix, and sell – certainly sounds easy enough, but each step carries with it a host of unique challenges, as I point out in the following sections.

To buy low, you have to be in a position to buy quickly. The trick is to have your financial ducks in a row before you go house hunting. Without a strong financial position you will find yourself making decisions that will cost you money.

Homeowners don’t exactly line up around the block waiting to sell their homes for less than they’re worth. As a house flipper, your job is to hunt for the homes in your area that are don’t wanners, as in “the owners don’t want her.” These orphan homes usually appear bedraggled. The yard looks like a weedy wasteland, the gutters are hanging off like a pair of old false eyelashes, the paint’s peeling, and the interior is completely trashed. These properties are often referred to as distressed, and their appearance indicates that the owner is distressed, as well. The home has become an albatross around the owner’s neck.

When the homeowners need to shed the burden of home ownership, they’re more likely to work out a deal with a serious investor. Subsequent posts will detail several successful techniques for scoping out distressed properties.

Understanding and implementing real estate investment strategies can be daunting. Developing a winning strategy and the right connections are key. Making sure you have the money to stay in the game to staging a house properly to maximize your profit are all part of the plan.

Real estate investment sounds easy. You can flip a pancake. You can flip a coin. Without too much effort, you can even flip out.while flipping a house, on the other hand, requires a level of knowledge, expertise, and sticktoitism unrivaled by any of these mindless tasks. It requires access to cash, and lots of it. It demands time, energy, vision, attention to detail, and the ability and desire to network with everyone from buyers and sellers to real estate professionals, contractors, and lenders.

I offer a broad overview of what buying and selling RE is all about. I will introduce the overall strategy of flipping houses – buy low, renovate, and sell a property at fair market value to earn a fair market profit. I reveal the difference between flipping the right way -legally and ethically – and flipping the wrong way – ripping off buyers, sellers, and bc mortgage lenders for a quick wad of cash.

Throughout this series I recommend a strategy that have worked for many RE investors With a positive mindset, a strong commitment, and the right approach, you have a much better chance that your first investment won’t flop.

After lever aging appreciation and location in their starter and move-up homes to pay for cars, college tuitions, and trips, their eventual retirement home probably will hold most of the equity in their lives reverse mortgage. Their last home will not be terribly modest because of this cohort’s desire to entertain. Some members will purchase long-term care insurance in their earning years, allowing for more cash to be spent on more gadgets. While some analysts say the Boomers will gain wisdom with age and curb their spending ways down the road, others won’t be persuaded.

How they will behave continues to confound researchers.

“Baby Boomers are famous for believing one thing and then behaving totally different from what they think they do,” said Eric Snider, who has a doctorate in social psychology and serves as Shea Homes’ marketing director for Trilogy, the homebuilding company’s upscale active adult communities. “They have retreated to their homes and away from society. Yet, that is not their reality at all.”

According to a study Snider conducted for Shea, the Walnut, California-based company that specializes in upscale homes in North Carolina, Arizona, California, Washington, and Colorado, that’s one of the reasons why homes have exploded in the past 50 years from an average of 953 square feet to 2,200 square feet. At the same time, the size of the family has declined dramatically.

“When you ask Boomers about age-restricted communities, they initially say, ‘I’m not going to live in one of those,’ ” Snider said. “But when you look at the characteristics of the community, it gives them exactly what they are looking for: exclusivity, amenities and personal experiences. Boomers are all about personal experiences.”

The writer is a reverse mortgage broker in Canada. He specializes in reverse mortgages to help seniors life their life in dignity. Reverse mortgages can greatly assist the elderly in living their lives to the fullest.

Members of the Boom Generation grew up as indulged youths during an era of community-spirited progress. These kids were the proud creation of postwar optimism, Dr. Spock rationalism, and Father Knows Best family order. Upon coming of age, however, Boomers loudly proclaimed their antipathy to the secular blueprints of their parents; they demanded inner visions over outer visions and self-perfection over thing-making or teamplaying. The Boom awakening climaxed with Vietnam War protests, the 1967 Summer of Love, inner-city riots, the first Earth Day, and Kent State. In the aftermath, Boomers appointed themselves arbiters of the nation’s values and crowded conspicuously into such culture careers as teaching, religion, journalism, marketing, and the arts.

During the 1990s, entering midlife, they trumpeted values, touted a “politics of meaning,” and waged scorched-earth culture wars. Now on the verge of elderhood, Boomers are rejecting the old notion of retirement in part because many have not saved enough to afford it. In old age, they look to be much more influential in the culture than in the economy or politics-much the opposite of the GIs who raised them. Representative members: George W and Laura Bush, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Bill Bennett, Steven Spielberg, Meryl Streep, Spike Lee, Bill Gates, Doctor Laura Schlessinger.4

Baby Boomers-the largest, healthiest, and wealthiest group ever appearing on the D.S. growth landscape-never met a loan they didn’t like. The reverse mortgage will simply be an extension of the status quo.

The writer is a reverse mortgage broker with numerous reverse mortgage clients.

They, and others, are taking cash and indulging their youthful fantasies-perhaps for the first time. Harley-Davidson reports that customers of ages 65 to 74 tripled between 2000 and 2003. Other members of this generation now find themselves as grandparents-and as their grandchildren’s primary caregivers. A skipped generation household is now defined as a grandparent and grandchild living with no parent in the home. In 2000, 5.8 million grandparents (60 percent over the age of 60) lived with grandchildren younger than age 18.

A lot of these people just don’t see themselves as retiring,” said Donna Butts, executive director of Generations United, a national organization in Washington, D.C., specializing in intergenerational strategies. “They raised their own kids, now they are raising another set. It comes with obvious financial risks and their income will continue to be a challenge.”

Biggest lure to a reverse mortgage: Health -conscious group plans to live longer, spending for education, travel, second homes, and long-term care insurance now plus drawing reverse funds later to age in place. Have begun to see power of home appreciation as potential back up to their retirement nest egg. Risk-averse mentality will keep them weighing costs more than Boomers. Silents will keep reverse cash in hand just in case something comes up. Led to participate: Special occasion, family reunion, coveted toy, “something they’ve always wanted to do.” Strong sense of contributing-to children’s weddings, grandchildren’s education, people in dire straights.

The writer is a reverse mortgage broker with numerous reverse mortgage clients.

The Silent Generation grew up as the suffocated children of war and the Depression. They came of age just too late to be war heroes and just too early to be youthful free spirits. Instead, this early marrying “lonely crowd” became the risk-averse technicians and professionals as well as the sensitive rock-’n’ -rollers and civil-rights advocates of a post-crisis era in which conformity seemed to be a sure ticket to success. Midlife was an anxious passage for a generation torn between stolid elders and passionate juniors.

Their political ascendancy in the mid-1970s coincided with fragmenting families, cultural diversity, institutional complexity, and prolific litigation. With a reverse mortgage hey are now redefining elderhood as a time for reconnecting with family, experimenting with new roles, and shedding the stodgy GI senior citizen moniker. Their hip style and reputation for indecision continues to give them a poor reputation for national leadership and is likely to make them the first generation in V.S. history never to produce a president.

William Manchester, the famous biographer, once commented that this group of people was “withdrawn, cautious, unimaginative, indifferent, unadventurous and silent.” The generation’s name also picked up steam when it was used in a Time cover story in 1951. This risk-averse group made some wise investments and typically saved more than other cohorts. According to the V.S. Census Bureau, the number of households headed by people age 60 and up with an income of at least $100,000 jumped 27 percent, to two million, between 1998 and 2002.

A reverse mortgage is a home equity loan without a payment. You do not repay the loan as long as the home remains your principal residence. Your income and credit rating is not considered when qualifying for the loan. The writer is a reverse mortgage expert.