When Your Arizona Income Is Fixed but Your Costs Aren't

I hear the same worry over and over from Valley retirees: "My income hasn't really changed, but somehow I have less left over every month than I did a few years ago." You're not imagining it. Harvard's latest housing report confirms what a lot of retirees already feel in their bank accounts: costs of living have climbed steadily since 2020, and homeowner costs specifically, property taxes and insurance premiums, have been rising, squeezing homeowners at every income level. Arizona has felt this acutely, with insurance and property tax increases outpacing what many fixed-income households budgeted for.

The math doesn't work the way it used to

A fixed income was built around a certain cost of living. When the cost of living moves and your income doesn't, something has to give. For a lot of Arizona retirees, that "something" ends up being quality of life: skipping a home repair, putting off a needed procedure, cutting back on the things that make retirement in this state enjoyable in the first place.

A different way to think about the gap

If you own your Arizona home and have equity built up, that equity can be one of the tools that closes this gap, through a lump sum, a line of credit that grows over time, or monthly payments that supplement what's already coming in. None of that requires selling your home or taking on a new monthly mortgage payment. For homeowners who want to protect a low-rate first mortgage, a HomeSafe Second accesses equity without disturbing it.