Home value and retirement planning

[Anonymous]

Does the value of your home feature prominently in your retirement planning?

[Anonymous]

The value does not, but we want to pay off the mortgage before retirement to reduce expenses (realizing we will still have to pay taxes, repairs, utilities, etc).

[Anonymous]

Yes and no. We plan to sell and move to a lower cost area and buy a less expensive house, but we don't add in that expected additional $ into our retirement forecasts. It gives us a cushion.

[Anonymous]

I don't factor it in when I use retirement calculators, in part so I have a cushion and in part because I don't think my wife will ever want to move somewhere cheaper so I'm not counting on ever having access to most of the equity.

[Anonymous]

Whatever we net from the sale of our house will be our purchase budget in full for our retirement home.

[Anonymous]

No, except when thinking about upkeep and property taxes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The value does not, but we want to pay off the mortgage before retirement to reduce expenses (realizing we will still have to pay taxes, repairs, utilities, etc).

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The value does not, but we want to pay off the mortgage before retirement to reduce expenses (realizing we will still have to pay taxes, repairs, utilities, etc).

+1

Me too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The value does not, but we want to pay off the mortgage before retirement to reduce expenses (realizing we will still have to pay taxes, repairs, utilities, etc).

+1

Which is why it makes sense to sell your home when you retire and rent - even if it is paid off. That eliminates two big unknowns - taxes and repairs.

[Anonymous]

Yes but we have three

[Anonymous]

No, not at all. We figure we have to live somewhere(so if not this house, then another).

[Anonymous]

Yes. The house where we're raising our kids should be paid off about ten years before retirement. We plan to sell this house. We have a second home that we plan to use as our retirement home. It will be paid off in about ten years or so. So the proceeds from the sale of our primary home will be money available for our retirement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes and no. We plan to sell and move to a lower cost area and buy a less expensive house, but we don't add in that expected additional $ into our retirement forecasts. It gives us a cushion.

+1 we won't be able to pay off our mortgage by the time we retire, but we should have enough equity to cash out and buy a townhouse or small house back home.

[Anonymous]

No. We may stay here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. We may stay here.

Which brings up a question I've been pondering.

What if you either own outright or you've got tons of equity when you're retired, and you want access to some/lots/most of that equity but don't want to move. HELOC? (do they give HELOCs or cash-out refis to retirees with no income?) Reverse mortgages are pretty frowned upon these days. Does there turn out to be no real way to get at your home equity other than selling?