Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/59248 
Year of Publication: 
2007
Series/Report no.: 
Public Policy Discussion Papers No. 07-2
Publisher: 
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Boston, MA
Abstract: 
We estimate the relationship between the returns on housing, stocks, and bonds, and simulate a variety of decumulation strategies incorporating reverse mortgages. We show that homeowner's reversionary interest, the amount that can be borrowed through a reverse mortgage, is a surprisingly risky asset. Under our baseline assumptions we find that the average household would be as much as 24 percent better off taking a reverse mortgage as a lifetime income relative to what appears to be the most common strategy: delaying tapping housing wealth until financial wealth is exhausted and then taking a line of credit. In addition, the results show that housing wealth displaces bonds in optimal portfolios, making the low rate of participation in the stock market even more of a puzzle.
JEL: 
D14
D91
G11
J14
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
424.22 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.