THE FIVE MOST CHALLENGING TRENDS AFFECTING SENIORS IN 2018
1.Longevity:
The number of Americans ages 65 and older is projected to more than double from 46 million today to over 98 million by 2060, and the 65-and-older age group’s share of the total population will rise to nearly 24 percent from 15 percent.
2. Finance:
A new era for interest rates. Things are looking “up” for 2018 in many respects, especially for interest rates and inflation. With the Federal Reserve Board’s most recent move and its forecast for future rate increases in the near term, senior living developers and operators can expect their borrowing costs to rise this year. The good old days of cheap financing may finally be starting to look further away in the rearview mirror, and the new environment may—or may not—prove challenging to senior housing real estate developers.
3. Health:
Given the rising incidence of chronic diseases, managing the health of seniors is becoming an increasingly difficult proposition. Because this age group accounts for a larger slice of healthcare expenditure, it also reflects an opportunity for savings through regular monitoring of their health conditions.
4. Employment:
The trend toward continuing to work as we age has skyrocketed in the past 30 years. The number of people age 65-plus working full- or part-time has risen from just under 11 percent in 1985 nearly 19 percent in 2015.
5. Medicare Card Scams:
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are removing Social Security numbers from Medicare cards and will begin to issue new cards in April 2018 (new beneficiaries will receive them first). Beneficiaries are getting calls claiming to be from Medicare asking for payment to receive their new Medicare card, or asking them to verify their Medicare number. Know that Medicare will NEVER call to verify your number because they already have it. Also, there is no cost to get your new card. If you get a call like this, hang up and report it to your state’s Senior Medicare Patrol. Find the number at www.smpresource.org
You can stay up to date on the latest scams targeting your area at any time by joining the AARP Fraud Watch Network. Anyone can join for free by visiting aarp.org/fraudwatchnetwork .Or to receive Fraud Watch Network alerts by phone, call 1-866-542-8172.
Since 1989 Reverse Mortgages have helped senior homeowners to access the hard earned equity in their homes safely, securely, and without mortgage payments. The trends listed above may affect you personally, but with our help you may be able to address these challenges and yet remain in your home as the owner. Your name remains on the title, you simply have a mortgage with no monthly payments. Your only obligations are the property taxes, home insurance, and other property related costs.
If you currently have a mortgage a reverse mortgage might be able to pay it off for you, thus increasing your monthly disposable income.
