If I were to recreate a day’s conversations, only one or two would be noteworthy enough to recall in detail. That’s because most conversations are chit-chatty little dialogues of small consequence.
It just happened that one of yesterday’s last conversations was also the most noteworthy.
The background
My day started off with two back-to-back appointments, one with a retired husband-and-wife medical doctor team, and the other with a widowed construction worker. Both had saved for retirement, both have little credit card debt, both own their homes outright. Neither appears to have lived beyond their means – no cavernous homes, no high-end cars, no evidence of life lived loud.
However, there was evidence of…life. Life that got more expensive than anyone could have guessed. Life that contained trials no one could have planned for. Life that plain old looks like life. The husband of the medical doctor team said, “We saved enough to live to eighty. We didn’t bet on living this long.”
The retired construction worker buried his wife after she lost her years-long battle with cancer.
The conversation
Back to last night’s conversation. I was at a party and a colleague said to me, “Someday I would like to meet just one senior who did it right – who actually saved enough for retirement.”
I replied, “Someday I would like to meet just one person with a crystal ball.” We both laughed, and the conversation moved on to other topics.
The joke
There’s the old joke of the hiker who falls off a precipice, but catches a branch halfway down the cliff. As he’s hanging 100 feet in the air three rescuers come by, but the distressed hiker refuses aid. He says to each, “There will be a miracle: God will save me.” Eventually he falls to his death and goes to heaven.
He says to God, “Why didn’t you send a miracle? Why didn’t you save me?”
God’s reply?
“I sent you three Good Samaritans. What more of a miracle did you want?”
The reality
The reality of life is that it is filled with joys and sorrow, good and bad, the expected and that which could never be expected. No one can plan for every eventuality.
I meet a lot of people who are praying for a financial miracle. For many older homeowners, that miracle is reverse mortgage.
Financial soundness cannot cure all the issues associated with aging. But it can relieve the stress of lying awake nights worrying about money. Or what to do if the roof needs repair. Or the car needs new brakes. Or if any other one of life’s unexpected events strikes at a time when income is fixed, funds are limited, and options are few.
Reverse mortgage was never intended to be a replacement for a sound financial retirement plan. However, it can play an important role in augmenting what is already in place, and slow the burn-through rate on other resources.
If you are – or someone you know is – looking into the potential benefits of a reverse mortgage, give me a call. I always love hearing from you.
Laurie
Laurie Denker MacNaughton [NMLS# 506562] · Reverse Mortgage Consultant, President’s Club · Middleburg Mortgage, a Division of Middleburg Bank · 20937 Ashburn Road, Suite 115 ·Ashburn, Virginia 20147 · 703-477-1183 Direct · LMacNaughton@MiddleburgBank.com · www.middleburgmortgage.com/lauriem
Visit my Informational Blog at https://middleburgreverselady.wordpress.com/
Laurie MacNaughton 703.477.1183 