New England Cable News (NECN) devoted a recent segment to explaining reverse mortgages and who can benefit from them.

There are several situations where seniors can benefit from taking out a reverse loan, including people who have a hard time making ends meet on a day-to-day basis, or people who want to defer collecting social security payments until age 70, and want some money for the interim until they reach the point of getting a higher payment, says Peter Bell, president of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association, in the segment.

Or, he continued, it could be people that have other assets, such as stocks or bonds that they want to hold on to for a while longer, or seniors who want to ultimately sell their home, but are holding out because of the down market.

Bell also explains how the loan amount is established, and the options for receiving those funds, going on to mention the HECM Saver, which cuts down on upfront fees.

While every senior has the option of the Saver, he says, it really depends on what the senior’s utilization of the money is: how long they expect to have the loan out, whether they need all the money right away, and whether they need a larger or smaller amount of money.

Written by Alyssa Gerace