Charles and Emily own a large two-story home built nearly on the beach. It sits behind low sand dunes and roughly thirty yards of sea oats. Gigantic sliding glass doors permit an unobstructed view of the sea. Located on the eastern coast of Florida, the morning sunrise is a spectacular event in the living room. Charles, a retired engineer designed the home structurally. The foundation sits within a huge welded steel cage and inside the walls of the house are structural steel I-beams. The house is designed to withstand all but the most ferocious of Florida's seasonal tropical storms. One year after it was completed in 1991, Charles and Emily reverse-mortgaged the property, recovering a sizeable portion of their construction costs. They have substantial savings in the form of stocks, most of which comprise their IRA's, income from which, together with Charles pension, provide a comfortable retirement income. In recent years the income from their stock portfolio has decreased substantially. Rather than sell investments, they have been using funds from their RM in addition to mandatory minimum IRA distributions for personal income. They love fine dining and eat out several times a week.

By the fall of 2003 their original RM line of credit had dwindled from its original $310,000 to less than $115,000. When Emily, now 79, suggested to Charles, who is three years older than herself they install an elevator in the house to access the second floor living area, Charles pointed out that the $25,000 cost would substantially cut into the remaining RM funds. Emily phoned to inquire about the possibility of increasing their LOC, since the value of the home has steaily appreciated. A conservative appraisal valued the home at around $2 million. Application was made for a Jumbo RM. After paying off the balance of the original RM, Charles and Emily increased their LOC to nearly $700,000. They have hired part-time help at home and are having an elevator installed in the house. Nothing else has changed. They continue to go out to dinner together nearly every evening. In addition, they are now helping their youngest grandchild who intends to become a physician, with college expenses.

Murray is a retired landlord and real-estate investor. He is debt-free and his legal residence in the Florida Keys recently appraised for $4.5 million. A widower in his early seventies, Murray loves luxury cruises and overseas travel. He loves to return to the home after his travels and has no intention of selling this primary residence. A former landlord and experienced investor, Murray decided to tap into the appreciated value ("phantom equity") of his Florida property, all of which (although around $4.5 million) would have remained inaccessible to him without a RM (unless he were to take out a mortgage or a bank LOC requiring monthly repayments). He is convinced, given its amenities, location and the number of families wishing to relocate to his unique area every year from up north, that his home's value will continue to increase.

A Jumbo RM now permits Murray to access a $1.3 million LOC. To date, the only funds withdrawn by him amount to around $150,000, leaving the residual LOC to grow at around 5% per year. When queried about the use of the $150,000, Murray replies, "I used it to buy three second mortgages and increased my monthly income by around $2,500. with money I didn't even know I had. Now when I travel I always go first-class." He seems to be thoroughly enjoying his "golden years".

Bill and Judy are both in their 60's and have been married for more than forty years. Bill was a sales-executive in the telecommunications industry. Their luxury condominium, located near Tampa on Florida's Gulf Coast, recently appraised for $1.2 million. Having purchased it only two years ago when Bill retired, before applying for a Jumbo RM, they had $1245 a month in mortgage payments. The Jumbo RM Bill and Judy selected yielded them around $240,000. After paying off their existing mortgage plus the RM's closing costs of around $2,600, they took around $41,000 in a lump sum payment. Their monthly disposable income immediately increased by the $1245. However, that isn't the main reason Bill decided upon applying for the Jumbo RM.

Bill is quite frank about his reasons. He says, "I love my wife and we have been married for over forty years. Judy raised our children and she is entitled to anything she feels she wants. The problem was, before the RM, that whenever I needed extra cash, I had to decide what stock to sell. That not only caused me a lot of bother but the truth of the matter is that everytime I sold a stock its price went up, causing me even more anxiety. Now whenever Judy wants something, I simply dip into the RM money and don't think twice about it." Bill has decided to represent RMS with reverse mortgages in his hometown, in addition to his other activities.