New Financial Products Provide Safe And Easy WayTo Find Cash In Retirement (NAPSA)—There’s good news for those who are concerned about their financial well-being in retirement. Options for increasing their income may be expanding. For example, two financial tools—life settlement and reverse mortgages—have gained popularity among older Americans as intelligent alternatives to drawing on their investment accounts. Here’s how they work. Life Settlement Somesee life settlement as a way to put life insurance to work. It is the practice of selling an unneeded life insurance policy for more than its cash surrender value. The ownerof a policy might decide to sell when a life situation changes and makes cash now more preferable or because of increasing premiums that are no longer affordable. This practice has grown in popularity and is now more widely available as a mainstream financialtool. Life settlement has grown from its origin as a tool reserved primarily for the wealthy to a much more mainstream product used by many older Americans to improve their retirement years. Policy owners are benefiting from increased protections and a greater degree of transparency than ever before. A number of easy-to-use and access tools are also available online to calculate the potential benefit. Reverse Mortgages Reverse mortgages allow homeowners age 62 and over to leverage the equity in their homes to earn a lump sum of cash and/or monthly cash payments. Over the past year, reverse mortgages have evolved to better serve seniors. Beginning in 2009, the reverse mortgage limit has been temporarily increased to $625,500, fees on reverse mortgages will be universally capped, condos will now beeligible for a reverse mortgage and, for the first time, borrowers can use a reverse mortgage to purchase a newproperty. A numberof private companies have also begun to offer innovative new ways for seniors to benefit from reverse mortgages. For instance, Golden Gateway Financial, a financial resource for seniors and a reverse mortgage broker, now allows borrowers to receive their funds on a prepaid debit card. Overall, a growing number of older Americans are turning to these alternatives as ways to generate additional income or as an added tool in their financial portfolio. Many are using them to fund big expenses, preserve other investments, grow a business or simply improve the quality of their retirement. To learn more, visit the Web site at goldengateway.com. Financial Resources for Seniors: The following Websites have information about financial planning and retirement: www.goldengateway.com: This financial resource for seniors offers both reverse mortgage andlife settlement, as well as a numberof usefultools. www.carp.org: This well-known authority on issuesaffecting seniors offers recommendations and advice on a number of financialtopics. www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hecm/ hecmabou.cfm:Official information from U.S. Departmentof Housing and Urban Development on how reverse mortgages work. www.goldengateway.com/reverse/ basics.do: Learn the basics of a reverse mortgage here andfind links to other importantinformation about reverse mortgages. www.goldengateway.com/lifesettle ment/explained/basics: Learn the basics oflife settlement here and find links to other importantlife settlement resources. @
