Home equity is the largest single asset most of your clients own. The research on how to use it in retirement is compelling. Most advisors haven't gotten there yet, and that's actually an opportunity.
without a HECM strategy
with a HECM line of credit as a buffer asset
Picture this: your client has $800,000 in investments, a paid-off home worth $600,000, and a withdrawal rate that makes you nervous every time the market drops. What if you could raise their portfolio survival probability from 68% to 93%, without changing a single investment position?
That's what Wade Pfau's research found. His work, backed by partnerships with the Financial Planning Association (FPA), the Stanford Center on Longevity, and Morningstar Advisor Workstation, shows that establishing a HECM line of credit early, before it's needed, and drawing on it strategically in down markets allows the investment portfolio to recover without forced liquidation.
The line of credit grows over time, independent of home value. In a sequence-of-returns risk scenario, it becomes the most powerful tool on the balance sheet that most advisors aren't using.
"The question isn't whether home equity is a retirement asset. It is. The question is whether you're advising your clients to use it strategically, or letting it sit untouched while their portfolio takes the hits."
"If my client needs a reverse mortgage, I've failed as their advisor."
This framing treats a reverse mortgage as evidence that the retirement plan fell apart. It's a defensive posture, and it leaves a major asset class out of the plan entirely.
"I'm recommending a HECM LOC to my client because it raises their 30-year portfolio survival probability by 25 percentage points."
That's a plan that works, not one that failed. Forward-looking advisors who present the HECM as a proactive buffer asset are having a completely different conversation with their clients, and with their own practice development.
In the years right before and after retirement, a single bad sequence of market returns can permanently impair a portfolio. A HECM LOC provides a strategic alternative source of income so the portfolio isn't forced to sell at the bottom.
Home equity can fund the tax liability on Roth conversions, letting your client convert traditional IRA assets while reducing the tax drag, without depleting the investment portfolio or triggering bracket concerns.
A growing line of credit can serve as a self-funded long-term care reserve. For clients who don't want to buy an LTC policy, the HECM LOC grows into a meaningful source of funds for care costs later in life.
In October 2025, HUD issued a Request for Information (RFI) about the HECM program. Some advisors interpreted this as a sign of instability or pending program cuts. Here's the actual story.
In our assessment, an RFI is a mechanism for gathering input, HUD has typically used them when designing program improvements rather than winding a program down. The HECM program has historically drawn bipartisan support, and HUD simultaneously increased loan limits for 2026, which is an expansion, not a contraction.
Advisors who have proprietary reverse mortgage products available to their clients (like the HomeSafe Second from Finance of America) have an additional backstop anyway, these products exist entirely outside the FHA/HUD structure. Even in a hypothetical scenario where FHA limits changed, proprietary products would continue unaffected.
Our read for your practice: If a client asks about the HUD RFI, our interpretation is that it points toward program improvement rather than instability. The 2026 loan limit increases are a signal in the same direction. And if you want a hedge against any future FHA changes, proprietary products provide it.
Before we ever ask you for a referral, we want to give you something genuinely useful. Finance of America Reverse hosts a free monthly Zoom webinar, "Advanced Retirement Planning with Home Equity", that qualifies for one CFP CE credit.
The curriculum is backed by partnerships with the Financial Planning Association, the Stanford Center on Longevity, and Morningstar Advisor Workstation. Topics include:
That's the offer. Not "let me tell you about reverse mortgages." One hour of research-backed continuing education that's directly relevant to your clients, offered at no cost to you.
Register using David's NMLS ID. After each session, David receives the attendee list, connecting you for a follow-up conversation if you'd like one.
New sessions run monthly. If this date has passed, contact David for the next available session.
David Rider, CRMP, is not only a reverse mortgage specialist, he is a career real estate educator. From 2001 to 2024 he was an approved instructor at the Arizona School of Real Estate & Business, cleared to teach more than 200 courses, including broker pre-licensing, with a focus on real estate financing. He has been in Arizona real estate since 1985 and a licensed broker since 1993.
For your clients, that background matters: when David explains a home equity strategy, he does what he has done for two decades in front of a classroom, teaches the material clearly, so the decision is understood, not sold. If a reverse mortgage isn't the right fit, he says so. That's the standard you'd be attaching your name to.
When you refer a client, you're not handing them off, you're bringing in a specialist who works alongside your plan.
A warm introduction by email or phone. Your client knows you trust the referral, which changes how the first conversation goes.
We review the client's situation, run the numbers, and present options clearly. If a reverse mortgage isn't right, we say so, and you look great for sending someone who's honest.
Your client's retirement plan doesn't change. We add a tool to the balance sheet. You remain the relationship. We keep you informed throughout.
One client sees the value, tells another. Your practice becomes known as the firm that considers every asset, not just the investment accounts.