reverse mortgage

Delaying initiation of Social Security retirement benefits can substantially increase your monthly benefit.

One way to delay your benefits is to borrow against the equity in your home though a reverse mortgage.

This can be a risky strategy, but it may be worth examining if you don't have savings, but you have substantial equity in your home.

Recently, the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a "warning" against using a reverse mortgage to delay initiation of Social Security retirement benefits.

This opinion piece says that the CFPB used flawed analysis.

Excerpt :

Lately, some financial advisers have suggested that seniors delay taking Social Security retirement benefits. Instead of taking Social Security at age 62, for example, these advisers suggest using a reverse mortgage to "fund" your retirement and delay initiation of Social Security benefits until later. Delaying benefit initiation means a larger retirement benefit.

However, the US Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) has cautioned that this strategy has drawbacks. The CFPB says the best way to increase future benefits is to keep working past age 62, if possible.