Senior citizens, who were once struggling to get a mortgage, are now able to use imputed income from their 401(k), IRA and other retirement assets to qualify for the loan they want under a new rule, the Washington Post reports.

Freddie Mac has a new policy revision that allows seniors and others to use certain retirement account balances to supplement their incomes for underwriting purposes, without actually using the cash, the article explains. 

This allows senior citizens to improve their financial standing during the underwriting process.