1,401,176 HECM reverse mortgages insured by FHA since 1989.
Your reverse mortgage options in about 2 minutes. No Social Security number or credit check.
Reverse mortgage guide
Waiting from 62 to 70 to claim Social Security can raise your monthly benefit by roughly three quarters, but most people claim early because they need income in between. A reverse mortgage line of credit can fill that gap: you draw from the line instead of collecting Social Security, and your benefit keeps growing in the background. The bridge has real costs, and the CFPB has warned that for many borrowers those costs can outweigh the extra benefit. It works best as a coordinated planning strategy for healthy homeowners who plan to stay put, not as a universal recommendation.
Waiting to claim Social Security from age 62 to age 70 can mean a monthly benefit that's roughly 77 percent higher, based on the Social Security Administration's delayed retirement credits. Most people who could benefit from that increase claim early anyway, because they need income now and nobody has shown them a way to cover the gap without pulling from savings or investments.
This article walks through how a reverse mortgage line of credit can fund those bridge years, using one illustration on a $600,000 home, what it actually costs, what happens to home equity 20 and 30 years down the road, and the honest case against it.
For a worker with a full retirement age of 67, Social Security's delayed retirement rules put the monthly benefit at roughly:
That's about a 77 percent increase in monthly lifetime income between 62 and 70. The dollar amount always depends on your own earnings record, but the same delayed-credit framework applies to every worker.
The reason most people don't wait isn't a lack of awareness that delaying helps. It's that they need income between 62 and 70, and Social Security isn't paying it during that window.
If you use the Social Security Administration's public Quick Calculator, you may see a different estimate, because it estimates your past earnings instead of reading your actual earnings record. The Quick Calculator is a rough planning tool. It doesn't use a person's actual full earnings history the way a formal benefit calculation does.
For anyone building a real strategy around these numbers, the right move is to pull your actual earnings record from your my Social Security account and run a full calculation, not rely on the quick estimate alone.
A reverse mortgage, specifically a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM), lets a homeowner age 62 or older turn part of their home equity into money without selling the home. Money can come as a lump sum, monthly payouts, a line of credit, or a combination.
There are no required monthly mortgage payments. You must continue to pay property taxes and homeowners insurance, maintain the home, and meet the other loan terms.
For the Social Security bridge, the structure is simple. Instead of collecting a Social Security check between 62 and 70, you draw the same dollar amount from a reverse mortgage line of credit, and let your Social Security benefit keep growing untouched in the background. At 70, you claim the bigger check and stop drawing.
A few things are worth understanding before this conversation happens:
Here's one illustration, based on one set of rates, for a 62-year-old borrower with a $600,000 home:
In this illustration, the total loan balance (what was drawn plus interest and mortgage insurance) grows each year until the draws stop at 70. Your balance will depend on how much you draw and the loan terms. Because the schedule uses the more conservative expected rate rather than the lower starting rate, this is closer to a worst-case projection. If rates track nearer the starting rate, the real balance could grow more slowly.
These figures come from one illustration on one set of rates. Your numbers will be different, and I'll run them on today's rates and HUD's current factors. See today's reverse mortgage rates and Reverse Mortgage Costs.
This is the part that's easy to miss if you only look at the balance.
Using a 4 percent yearly appreciation assumption, one of the scenarios federal rules require in reverse mortgage cost disclosures, here's how the same illustration plays out:
In this illustration, equity dips to a low point around age 70, right when the draws stop, then climbs back above where it started. By age 90, modeled equity is actually higher than it was at 62, even after 28 years of compounding interest on the loan.
Read that again, and then read the next paragraph.
That result depends on the home continuing to appreciate at roughly 4 percent a year for three decades. If appreciation is flat instead, the loan balance could pass the home's value on paper well before 90. That's the scenario FHA's insurance on a HECM is built for. A HECM is a non-recourse loan, so repayment is limited to the home's value when the loan comes due, not an open-ended obligation on you or your heirs.
In August 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau published an issue brief warning that using a reverse mortgage to delay Social Security can be expensive. Its model used a 62-year-old with a $175,000 home and 2 percent yearly appreciation. In that case, the CFPB found that the loan's interest, mortgage insurance, and fees could be larger than the extra lifetime Social Security a typical borrower would gain. The CFPB also pointed out that the strategy reduces the equity you'll have later, which can limit your options if you need to move or face a big expense.
That's a fair warning, and I don't dismiss it. Here's how I read it next to my own illustration:
This is a coordinated planning strategy, not a universal recommendation. The right answer comes from running your own numbers next to the alternatives, ideally with your financial advisor in the room.
It tends to fit people who:
It's generally not a fit for someone planning to sell and downsize in the next few years, someone without much equity, or someone who expects to need their equity for care later. It also isn't the same as claiming early and investing the Social Security check. That's a different comparison with its own tradeoffs, worth running separately with a financial advisor.
If you're married, both of your ages and both of your benefits matter. Claiming strategies for couples, including survivor benefits, can change the answer. And if your spouse is younger than 62, read the Non-Borrowing Spouse guide first.
Some people prefer to open the line of credit early and leave it alone as a safety net, instead of using it for a bridge. That's a related idea. See the standby line of credit strategy.
No. The 77 percent figure assumes a full retirement age of 67. Your dollar amounts depend on your own earnings record. The delayed retirement credit framework applies to every worker, but the exact percentage and dollar increase depend on your own earnings history and full retirement age.
Reverse mortgage draws are generally treated as loan proceeds, not income, so they're generally not taxable. How this interacts with your full tax picture should be reviewed with a qualified tax professional.
No. The earnings test applies to earned income, like wages or self-employment income. Reverse mortgage draws are loan proceeds, not earned income.
They can. Loan money isn't income, but money you keep past the month you receive it can count as a resource. See Will a reverse mortgage affect my Social Security or Medicare benefits?
A HECM is non-recourse. Repayment is limited to the home's value when the loan comes due, so neither you nor your heirs pay the difference if the balance grows larger than the home is worth. But flat values do mean less equity left over.
Possibly. Social Security lets you withdraw your application once, within 12 months of your first month of entitlement, if you pay back the benefits you and your family received. Confirm with SSA before acting on it.
No. There are no required monthly mortgage payments. You must continue to pay property taxes and homeowners insurance, maintain the home, and meet the other loan terms. Voluntary payments are allowed if you choose to make them.
In 2017, the CFPB warned that for many borrowers, the cost of the reverse mortgage can exceed the extra Social Security they gain by waiting, and that the strategy reduces home equity. Its example used a smaller home and lower appreciation than my illustration. Both are worth reading.
If you're between 60 and 66 and wondering whether to claim early, let's look at it before you file. Book a call, get your estimate, or call us at 530-888-6000. Bring your advisor if you have one.
This article is for educational purposes only and isn't tax, legal, or financial advice. The figures are one illustration based on specific assumptions, and your figures will differ.
ZYNG Mortgage, Inc., NMLS #76801. A reverse mortgage has no required monthly mortgage payments and uses your home's equity. Fees, mortgage insurance and other costs can be added to the loan balance, and the balance grows over time as interest is added, so your equity typically decreases. When the loan becomes due, the home may need to be sold, or the loan repaid from other funds. Interest is not tax-deductible until it is paid, in part or in full. You keep title to your home and must keep paying property taxes, homeowners insurance and upkeep, and meet the other loan terms; not doing so can make the loan due and could lead to foreclosure.
This material is not from HUD or FHA and was not approved by HUD or a government agency.
HECM count at the top of this page: HUD data through September 2026 (source, opens in a new tab).
