When it comes to retirement, there are many ways to have the money that is needed so that you have the retirement that you have always wanted. You work your entire life to have a comfortable retirement, where there are no worries and plenty of time to travel and do the things you have always wanted to. Yet sometimes retirement may not go as planned, so consider the way for you to have a lifetime tenancy agreement in order to have a comfortable retirement.
Making Sure Retirement is Fun
Making sure that this happens is extremely important. There are some different ways to go about making sure you have the money you want and need at this time. However, the sooner you take care of these options the better to ensure that you receive the maximum benefit.
Home reversion and lifetime mortgage are two equity release programmes designed for over 55s. This means they are intentionally set up for retirees to make your life a little easier in retirement. The money received from either programme is tax free cash that can be used as you need it on the things you wish to use it on. In other words, you can have that dream holiday, buy that new car, and get a second holiday home or whatever you wish for by taking equity from your home for that fun.
Home Reversion Exposed
One such option would be a lifetime tenancy agreement as a part of a home reversion scheme. These may have seemed to have fallen to the way side, but in reality they are being used more and more to help retirees have money they need and the lifestyle they want when it comes to retirement.
A home reversion scheme allows the owner of the home to sell off all or part of their home to a reversion company. When this is done, the owner and spouse are allowed to continue to live in the home rent free; there are no payments to make on the money that they received.
They can receive a lump sum payment, monthly payments or a combination of both. The home cannot be sold until both owners have passed away or have moved on to assisted living. At that time the home is sold and the portion that the reversion company is owed means they receive that amount from the sale, while the rest of the money goes to the owners of the home or those who may have inherited.
Lifetime Mortgage Discussion
A lifetime mortgage is completely different from the home reversion equity release. You actually have to pay back the money you use. Furthermore, you have interest that continues to add up which has to be paid back as well. You could end up using your entire equity up in a loan and interest. This would take away from the inheritance you wish to leave behind. You still live in the home rent free of course as you own it, but you have that mortgage payment to pay at death or when you decide to move to a care facility.
For some retirees this is a workable angle to obtain the needed funds. For others living mortgage free even if it means selling their home is a better choice.
Differences between Options
Already you probably picked up on a few of the differences you will face when it comes to each type of equity release. However, there are some qualification differences which have yet to be discussed.
• Home reversion requires you to be age 65 to start the process. This is the age of the youngest homeowner and all people of 65 in the house will need to be on the home reversion agreement plus in the tenancy agreement to be able to stay in the home should someone die.
• Lifetime mortgages can start at 55 and again the youngest homeowner is the one who will qualify for the age rather than anyone in the house.
• Home value matters in both. The value of your home will determine what the company is willing to provide to you in funds. For home reversion you obtain a percentage of the total home value based on age, home value, and the percentage you wish to release. Lifetime mortgages look at your life expectancy to determine the interest rate accrual based on age and home value so it is slightly different in how it is calculated.
Using a lifetime tenancy agreement to remain rent free in your home can be alleviating when it means you have retirement funds. Just make certain to read through the home reversion document, and tenancy agreement to ensure everything is spelled out correctly for the terms including when you vacate or when a spouse dies.