A reverse mortgage is a special type of loan that home owners can sometimes get to convert the equity in their homes to cash. Simply, a reverse mortgage is a type of loan that provides you with a monthly income, a lump sum of cash, or a line of credit. Or a combination of both

This was originally structured for retirees keen in keeping their homes but whose incomes aren't sufficient to support them, reverse mortgages have typically been used to help people on low incomes to pay for daily expenses, huge medical bills or the odd house maintenance and repair costs. Reverse mortgage also pays off your existing loan, if you have any. So you have no ongoing house payment. The monthly income you receive from the reverse mortgage is guaranteed and you will receive it as long as you remain living in the home.

Many reverse mortgages offer special appeal to older adults because the loan advances, which are not taxable, generally do not affect Social Security or Medicare benefits. Another advantage of reverse mortgages is the different withdrawal options that you are able to choose. These options include lump sum distributions, line of credit, monthly payments, or any combination of these three. So if you were eligible to borrow $200,000 on a reverse mortgage you could select to receive $60,000 up front to cover current expenses, and hold the rest as a line of credit that you can use whenever you need it. This flexibility of reverse mortgages can significantly improve you financial independence during retirement

The disadvantage is the relative cost of a reverse mortgage. Reverse mortgages tend to be very expensive when compared with a conventional mortgage. This is due to the rising-debt nature of reverse mortgages. Another disadvantage is the reverse mortgage payments can affect eligibility for old age pensions, or supplemental Social Security income. Senior citizens may not even appreciate this problem until after they already have their reverse mortgage, and only then do they discover that this can have the negative affect on their finances then what they were trying to accomplish in the first place by taking out the reverse mortgage.

With these facts in mind, reverse mortgage are definitely an option to consider if you are looking for ways to supplement your current income. As with any financial decision, you should consult the advice of a trained financial professional to analyze and determine if a reverse mortgage is right for in your unique circumstances.

The author is the consultant for mortgages and refinance matters. For more information, please visit http://www.mortgage-query.com