Is a reverse mortgage right for you? + MORE Aug 15th

Many Canadians are “house rich.” Their net worth appears healthy (the average tops $675,000), but in reality, a large chunk—sometimes 50% or more—of that wealth is tied up in their homes. Factor in the nation’s growing personal debt (according to Statistics Canada, we collectively owe $1.77 for every $1 in disposable income), and it isn’t surprising that interest in reverse mortgages is growing. 
A reverse mortgage is one of several options we have for borrowing money against a home’s equity. (Your equity is the present-day value of your home, minus mortgage principal or other debt tied to your home that’s remaining to be paid down.)
In the past, reverse mortgages were viewed with skepticism; a loan you don’t have to repay as long as you live simply seems too good to be true. But for Canadians in specific financial circumstances, a reverse mortgage can be a practical solution. 
This guide looks at how reverse mortgages work, and which types of people could benefit from them, to help you decide whether it might be a good option for you…

It’s so hard to have a calm intelligent debate about mortgage policy in Canada. And there’s a reason for it.

Evan Siddall, CEO of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, is calling on lenders and mortgage default insurers to tighten underwriting and qualification standards.

Despite what you may witness on Twitter, people generally see the good in others, whether that’s their friends, colleagues or the executives running the companies they invest in. We want to believe a business we’re buying into is on the up-and-up, that what they’re saying about their operation is truthful and that they really will help you make some money. But, as we’ve seen—Enron, Worldcom, various mortgage brokers and banks in the 2008 financial crisis, for example—there are business people who have other motivations besides honesty with investors. 
More recently, it’s been reported that several Canadian cannabis companies, including Aphria and Aurora, have been sued by investors for allegedly making misleading claims, failing to disclose revenue problems, inaccurate financial statements and more. These claims have yet to be proven in court, but they’re an indication that once-rosy relationships between investors and the companies they own could sour at any moment. (You could argue that cannabis investors should have known what they were signing up for…