The reverse mortgage has been proposed as a viable solution to be
used as a supplemental financial instrument for long-term care and health care financing for those who are
“house-rich but cash-poor”. The objectives of the current study were to find out the percentages of the middle- to old-aged (aged above 45 years) homeowners in the Taiwan community who would consider applying for the reverse mortgage after they were 65 years old and to identify social demographic, self economic, supply side, demand side and other factors that were significantly related to the willingness to consider applying for the reverse mortgage.
Our sample included those in the Taiwan community middle- to
old-aged who owned self-occupied houses. After excluding unqualified cases total sample size was 307 cases. About 22% of these home-owners
definitely or probably would consider to applying for such a plan if it were available in Taiwan. Moreover, using logistic regression analyses, we found that the number of sons and a deeper understanding of reverse mortgage were positively related to the willingness to consider applying for the reverse mortgage.
Results suggest that the reverse mortgage may be useful as a supplemental financing instrument for long- term care and health care financing. Therefore, the government should be involved in planning reverse mortgages, educating the population, and providing consulting services to the elderly to protect the borrowing aspect of their financial safety.
