Category Archives: Resources

Exploring the Retirement Consumption Puzzle

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by David Blanchett, CFP®, CFA

Wanting to learn more about consumer spending in retirement? This article discusses the following topics:

  • Empirical research on retiree spending has noted a “retirement consumption puzzle,” where retiree expenditures tend to decrease both upon and during retirement. This decrease in spending is inconsistent with general economic theories on consumption, which suggest individuals seek to maintain constant consumption over their lifetimes.
  • Government data on consumption was analyzed in this study to understand how retiree consumption actually changes over time.
  • The results of the analysis suggest that although the retiree consumption basket is likely to increase at a rate that is faster than general inflation, actual retiree spending tends to decline in retirement in real terms. This decrease in real consumption averages approximately 1 percent per year during retirement. 
  • A “retirement spending smile” effect is noted. This finding has important implications when estimating retirement withdrawal rates and determining optimal spending strategies.

What’s the Deal With Reverse Mortgages? Second Edition by Shelley Giordano, MA

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As we enter retirements, the change in lifestyle is an inevitable challenge for almost every retirees. How can you preserve your lifestyle without steady income streams? How to utilize your existed assets to support your retirement? To answer these questions and offer more advice, Shelley Giordano launched “What’s The Deal With Reverse Mortgages” second edition on Kindle. Learn more about the retirement assets folks don’t know they have.

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Propriety Reverse Mortgage Products Could Eclipse FHA’s HECM Program in 2019

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Written by Jamie Hopkins on July 2, 2019

The reverse mortgage market world heads in reverse away from the government created Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) and towards new propriety products. This is an encouraging sign because any healthy market needs competition, innovation, and variety. However, recently HECM program has been the driving force behind the reverse mortgage world, leaving many without an ideal solution to utilizing home equity as part of a sustainable retirement plan.

The article can be found here.

OP-ED: How Home Equity Improves Retirement Security

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A new form of SRI: Secure Retirement Income

Two major retirement challenges could be addressed through a simple innovation. First, long-term investors are struggling to meet their (lowered) target rates of return. Attempts to raise returns by investing in riskier assets only raises the risk of future underperformance. Second, individuals have insufficient retirement savings and are facing the prospect of a meager retirement paycheck. A new real estate sub-asset class, iHomes (Income from Homes), created by innovative funds and real estate managers, could address these twin challenges with attractive results for all parties. The solution rests in allowing retirees to tap into home equity to generate income, and for innovative investors to get rewarded for supplying capital for these transactions.

To dig into the article regarding home equity and reverse mortgage, click here.

By  Dr. Arun S. Muralidhar on May 31, 2019