December 1 2022
Ep3: Retirement Income Strategies — Meet Mary Jo Lafaye, a licensed Home Equity Retirement Income (HECM) specialist with Mutual of Omaha Mortgage
A Note from Peter Neuwirth, FSA, FCA — I invite you to tune in for this week’s episode of my podcast and video show, Money Mountaineering, where for 30 minutes, financial experts help us answer the question: What’s your future worth?
Meet our guest: Mary Jo Lafaye, a licensed Home Equity Retirement Income (HECM) Specialist with Mutual of Omaha Mortgage
Today’s Topic: The practicalities of getting a reverse mortgage, the real-life considerations that individuals and couples need to make when deciding to get one, the challenges they may face and the psychological hurdles that many have to overcome to make a good decision as to whether or not to get one.
Pete asks Mary Jo:
- Please tell me a little bit about your role with Mutual of Omaha and how you came to be an expert in Reverse Mortgages.
- Let’s assume that someone has decided actually to get a reverse mortgage or thinks they might — how does one go about getting one? Do they just go to the Bank where they got their mortgage, or is there a different process?
- What’s the catch?
- What logistical hurdles do people have to overcome to get an RM?
- What about the decision to get an RM? Surely RM is not for everyone. What sort of issues do you have to help your clients work through to help them get to the right decision on whether/when to get an RM?
- Is it just the individual/couple you talk to, or are others (e.g., other family members, financial and legal advisors) that you typically talk to?
About our Guest: Mary Jo Lafaye is a licensed Home Equity Retirement Income (HECM) Specialist with Mutual of Omaha Mortgage. Prior to her current position, Mary Jo accumulated 19 years in the reverse mortgage field, including seven years with Security One Lending and five years with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. During this time, she earned numerous awards, including Wells Fargo Leader’s Club Member, with the highest customer service scores. She was chosen to train Private Bankers and Wealth Management Advisors on the most effective ways to employ this repayment-deferred line of credit as a retirement planning and cash-flow management tool to create more sustainable income throughout retirement.
Mary Jo is well-known as a trusted resource for retirees – she has taught HECM concepts to real estate finance students at the College of San Mateo and to those seeking their SRES designation. She has participated in panel discussions and delivered hundreds of seminars and talks to groups ranging from the Retired Firemen’s Association, Kaiser Permanente, Rotary Club, CPA Discussion Groups, CalCPA, SILVAR, SAMCAR, FPA, MAR, NorBAR, NAPFA, PFAC, Marin County Bar Association and many more. She enjoys educating and working with mature homeowners, their families, and their trusted advisors to secure long-term sustainable retirement solutions. She is also certified to offer complimentary one and two-hour Continuing Education (CE) classes for CFPs, CPAs, and Realtors.
Originally from Houston, Texas, Mary Jo has made the West Coast her home for more than three decades. In her spare time, she enjoys cycling, hiking, yoga, cooking, and traveling. She is also conversational in Spanish, having traveled extensively throughout Mexico. Through donations for each funded loan, Mary Jo supports OxFam International and OxFam America in their mission to create a just world without poverty.
Contact Mary Jo: 415-259-4979 • info@maryjolafaye.com
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