Life Becoming Harder for the Elderly in Rural Areas

A heartbreaking article in today's New York Times focused on the plight of elderly people living (often alone) in rural areas. Calling their situation a "plight" is controversial- many of them clearly have chosen their lifestyles by choice. Nonetheless, access to medical care and companionship in aging towns is low. One of the people profiled in the story is a 96 year old man who drives 8 miles each day to have lunch at the senior center in town. However, he worries that he will be unable to pass the test to renew his drivers license, isolating him. The fact that populations have aged to such a degree is something that many might overlook.

In Northwest Nebraska, some counties have median ages of 45-50, more than 10 years older than the national average, and are some of the oldest places in the country. While the news that rural America is starting to die out and age is not exactly new, it's still important to recognize. As Congress debates cuts to healthcare that are likely to disproportionately affect seniors in rural areas, it's important that awareness of these issues grow. While reverse mortgages may be able to help some of these seniors, without the necessary resources and services, financial sustenance no longer becomes the issue.

The Role of Reverse Mortgage Loan Officers in Spotting and Reporting Elder Abuse

This morning Reverse Mortgage Daily published an article I wrote on Elder Abuse. The piece covered the session on Elder Financial Fraud at the NRMLA Reverse Mortgage Annual Conference in San Diego last month. The comments on the piece on Reverse Mortgage Daily raised an interesting question: What role, if any, should loan officers have in spotting and reporting elder abuse? Clearly, it is not the main purpose of their job. But I do think that loan officers are in a unique position to spot and report elder abuse. They often visit a senior's home, and, in seeing the condition of the home and learning the senior's financial information, can be exposed to red flags that an outsider might not see.

Someone compared elder abuse to the difficulty spotting child abuse when a child is beaten, but I do not think they are anywhere near the same thing. The question of corporal punishment for a child by their parent is very different than cases of elder abuse. Elder abuse involves seniors, many of whom are frail, incapacitated, or otherwise dependent on their child. I have a hard time thinking of a situation where slapping a senior would ever be seen as appropriate, but this question is not related to elder abuse, especially elder financial abuse.

Some of the clearest elder abuse cases involve seniors living in squalid conditions, being deprived what they need for survival. A home visit will reveal those things, for example. Elder financial abuse may be harder to spot, but if the senior does not understand the product and/or the child is planning to take all the money, those might be red flags.

While spotting elder abuse may not be part of a reverse mortgage loan officers "job description," they are in a position to make an impact. By educating them and empowering them to do so, they might be able to make a difference in the lives of some seniors who need help. And isn't that what a reverse mortgage is supposed to do anyway?

NRMLA Conference Recap: Day 1

The NRMLA Annual Reverse Mortgage Conference appears to be off to a great start. With around 650 attendees, the conference makes the regional conferences look tiny in comparison. The booths in the exhibition hall have also been a lot of fun, with an air hockey tournament and a Wii Frisbee tournament among some of the highlights (more on those in a later post).

While my delayed flight did not land until the afternoon, I was still able to attend a number of interesting sessions. The sessions on "Acceptable Advertising - and the Language You Must Avoid" and "Spotting Elder Financial Abuse - And What You Should Do About It" were two highlights. Having attended four elder abuse sessions in the past nine months, I appreciated still learning new information in the elder abuse session. The advertising discussion was very lively, helping to show just how important of an issue advertising (and compliant advertising) is within the reverse mortgage industry. These topics both leave much to think (and write) about.

With only eight hours until the morning's sessions, it has been a great and fun-filled first day. Tomorrow, with the theme of "Improving Sales and Management," should be just as packed. With a big counseling panel and a session with a representative from the Inspector General's office, day 2 should provide more interesting information. Remember to follow @rmhero to keep up throughout the day.