Tag Archives: Equity Release Plans

Is an Enhanced Equity Release Calculator Available Yet?

Enhanced equity release calculator tools are available online. These calculators are specific to the enhanced, impaired, or ill health lifetime mortgage schemes on the market rather than home reversion or other lifetime mortgage products. Given the specific nature of these mortgages, the calculator has to take into account more information than the standard lifetime mortgage.

History of Enhanced Equity Release Plans
A decade ago enhanced equity release plans were on the market through Hodge Lifetime and Partnership Assurance. They provided enhanced options through home reversion plans. However, with changes made by the then Financial Services Authority, now the Financial Conduct Authority, the plans were discontinued, leaving the market without any enhanced home reversion or lifetime mortgage schemes.

In more recent years, new lenders have joined the market offering enhanced lifetime mortgage plans. Partnership re-entered followed by new companies like More2Life, Aviva, and Just Retirement. By new we mean new to the enhanced equity release plan, and not necessarily to the market as a whole.

Following the principles of enhanced annuity, enhanced or impaired equity release schemes use health as a way to provide the maximum equity release amount, which is where the enhanced equity release calculator comes in. Be aware that the more severe the illness is the greater the maximum equity amount will be.

Lenders Supplying Tools
Some brokerages and websites have developed the enhanced equity release calculator to help supply the maximum lump sum an individual may be able to take out of their home. Unfortunately, accuracy is difficult to predict due to the myriad questions on the health and lifestyle questionnaire which determines a person’s life expectancy. This questionnaire is coupled with a mortality indices table based on age and illness to give an applicable value.

This means the calculator is designed to give you the maximum amount based on the worst case scenario. You may or may not be a person in the worst case scenario, but that is the result you will get, therefore, you need to speak with a broker before deciding if this loan is truly right for you.

What can Brokers Do?
An independent financial broker specialising in equity release schemes should be contacted once you have a beginning figure for an enhanced equity release product. The adviser will take the enquiry beyond the standard calculator questions to see if there are any other factors that could release the maximum lump sum or if you will only be able to get a smaller amount. The enquiry is based on a Key Facts Illustration (quote) from relevant providers in the market.

A broker is able to discuss your situation with financial companies lending the money for lifetime mortgages. They can discuss whether there are other factors that might release more or see what current products are available to you.

You should be aware that even if something is advertised on TV, the Internet, radio, or through a calculator calculation, you may not be able to get that same product. This is where the broker comes in. They have resources you do not have available.

Why Use the Calculator
You are probably asking why you should use the calculator at all if you still have to speak with a broker. The main reason to use it is to see the potential maximum lump sum. If the maximum lump sum is not anywhere close to the funds you hope to unlock, it gives you an idea of whether lifetime mortgages and other equity release products are right for you.

Additionally, it tells you whether your ill health is a qualifying factor to release more equity than a standard lump sum. It might be a guide number that results, but it does prove whether going on to the next step and speaking with a broker is worth your time.

While the value might change to a lower one, the original calculation result gives you enough of an answer to get started. There are also times when the calculator is not giving you a high enough number because you have multiple health factors. If you can find a maximum lump sum that works for you based on what you input into a calculator and a broker can get more released it might work out better for you. Of course, as you use the enhanced equity release calculator, you do need to remember it is only an estimate. You always want to speak with a qualified professional who is independent to ensure you are getting the very best product for you.

Free Guide to Equity Release Calculators

One of the most important and most basic questions that customers ask when considering equity release as a potential solution is – how much will I be able to release?

This is the question that determines whether or not equity release is the right option for them. Until a few years ago, those making an equity release enquiry who wanted an answer to that question had to make an appointment with various providers in order to get an answer. Today, thanks to the development of the online equity release calculator, getting an answer to this essential question has become a matter of minutes.

An equity release calculator is essentially an application that can calculate the average maximum amount you could release based on the information you enter – this includes your age, and the current property valuation of your home. The calculator then uses this information and searches through its database of different plans to come up with the maximum that you could potentially release for your given age and property valuation.

For an equity release calculator to work correctly, it is important to provide it with the most accurate information, as this is the only way you can get an accurate answer. So let’s look at the best way to use an equity release calculator online tool.

In the case of most equity release plans, how much you can release depends on two factors – your age, or in the case of joint applicants, the age of the youngest applicant, and the current valuation of your property. Your age determines the expected term of the mortgage, and your property value determines the equity in your home. These two variables are used by the lender to calculate how much they can afford to lend you.

While filling in the equity release calculator form, it is essential to fill in information carefully and accurately. In case of enhanced lmortgages, there is another pertinent factor – and that is your health and lifestyle. Your health and your lifestyle determine any potential risks to your life and enable the lender to calculate the expected term of the loan. This allows the lender to work out how much enhanced equity you can release.

Enhanced equity release calculators entail filling in a health and lifestyle questionnaire consisting of fairly simple questions about your lifestyle choices and habits, and any existing illnesses and chronic conditions you may have. Again, it is imperative to be as accurate as possible while filling in this form as this will help you get the most accurate answer.

How to Calculate the Maximum Equity Release

Equity release plans can offer a flexible way to optimise your financial assets. With new, more secure equity release plans available today, it is possible to manage the amount of equity in your home exactly as you intend to; while also protecting your inheritance. But after all is said and done, equity release ultimately works by devaluing your main asset – your home.

While equity release plans do provide a valuable solution to many, it is not suitable for everyone. It can involve selling a portion of your home in the case of home reversion, and having a life-long mortgage secured on your property in case of lifetime mortgages, so there are many implications to be aware of that on the face of it may not be obvious. An equity release plan is therefore something that has a major effect, not only on your life but ultimately also for your beneficiaries. As such, it is important to be fully sure that it is the best possible way to help you achieve your goals.

Just enough for your needs

The starting point is to assess where you stand in relation to the amount you actually require. Therefore, a good way to do this is to calculate the maximum equity release that you can take in the context of your individual needs and circumstances. It would therefore be prudent to discuss what you actually need the extra cash for by itemising your expenditures. Not only this but are these expenditures ALL required during the initial spending phase? Some proposals may have longer term goals which can be set aside for now, others more immediate. These later life expenditures can be incorporated into the longer term goals of your plans.

However, by at least knowing the maximum release possible, you can then either build your spending plans to fit, or curb your expenditures to fit in with this budget provided by the online equity release calculator. The tool should be used for guidance purposes only and never literally so as to pin all your hopes on the outcome of its results. There are still many variables along the way that could still affect the ultimate goal, therefore prudence should be taken.

Often people who consider a release of equity think only about which equity release plans are available and which plan would suit them best. But the more fundamental question in reality is how much can they actually release with an equity release plan, and given the amount they can release, is equity release the right way for them to go?

An independent and qualified equity release adviser can ultimately offer you the best advice and guide you through the different options available. But using an equity release calculator to find out how the maximum you can release is the first step to finding out whether equity release can help you.

Maximum enhanced lifetime mortgage calculation

An equity release calculator requires you to enter your age and property value in order to work out how much money you could potentially release. Bear in mind however, that another determinant in calculating the maximum lifetime mortgage is due to one’s health conditions; both current and past. Therefore, of the best equity release calculators around, of the online varieties, the best will be able to afford to provide two sets of answers; one for a healthy person and the other for an enhanced lifetime mortgage customer.

As you can see the equity release market is evolving at a pace and the industry tools must keep pace with these changes. For this reason, an enhanced lifetime mortgage calculation should always be included in any set of results to ensure that the full picture is presented and those who are eligible to qualify for an enhanced product are aware of its benefits. This is where a full set of tools and advice from an independent source is essential for the calculation of the maximum equity release.

Getting an idea of the largest amount they could release at their age and given their property valuation, helps many people to decide whether equity release plans may be suitable for them, and whether equity release may even help them raise the amount they need!

Using an equity release calculator to calculate a maximum release is therefore the first step to finding out whether equity release is right for you.

Where to Compare Equity Release Pros and Cons Before Completing Any Calculations

Compare the Equity Release Pros and Cons Before Completing Any Calculations

Over a decade ago, releasing equity from your home was virtually unheard of. Today, equity release plans are flourishing, with more and more people choosing to turn to the equity in their homes for relative financial security during retirement.

Equity release is not suitable for everyone, but it does provide a flexible solution for many, and the growing popularity of equity release plans are proof of this. Many new and more flexible products have become available in recent times, and the fact is that the equity release sector has never looked more vibrant.

But the world of equity release schemes still remains confusing for many and it is difficult to negotiate your way around so many different plans; all with their own terms of lending and eligibility criteria. How then does one find the equity release plan that best suits their individual needs and circumstances? And how does one compare different equity release plans to find the best equity release deals?

The answer lies in speaking to a qualified equity release expert who can guide you through the different options and help you understand the equity release pros and cons of each alternative in the context of your individual needs. But firstly, a simple way to sift through the various options is to use an impartial equity release schemes calculator to find out the maximum amount you could raise through different equity release providers.

Equity release pros and cons

These equity release pros and cons are paramount to the decision-making process as they gauge one’s attitude to risk which your equity release adviser will use towards his recommendation. They will not only outline all that is good about equity release schemes, but advise the pitfalls of equity release schemes also. Knowing both sides of the story is essential moving forward as this could be classed as the biggest financial decision of your life, your first ever mortgage aside.

It is important to find a comparison site that offers objective and impartial advice, and has an up-to-date database of providers and plans. This way you can be sure that you are not losing out on something better and are getting the fairest picture of what could be available to you. Check whether they list all the equity release pros & cons for you to easily understand before even seeing or paying for equity release advice.

Independent advice companies like EquityRelease2go.com have pioneered the use of equity release calculators that can quickly work out the maximum release based on some simple facts about your case, including your age and property valuation. These companies continue to provide an impartial and up-to-date service to users who are looking to find the most suitable home equity release scheme.

Not all free equity release calculators are truly free and fair. Some calculators only show a fraction of the picture; while some others use personal information for unrequested marketing from paying partners. While many providers and even comparison sites use equity release schemes calculators as a ploy to extract information from enquirers, there are also companies that seek to provide genuinely unbiased information to customers based on results from all reputable equity release providers.

In summary, it’s vitally important to do your research before committing to anything, seek the equity release services of a reputable independent company who offer a nationwide advisory service such as Equity Release Supermarket whose testimonials & client feedback seem to justify this.

Will an Equity Release UK Calculator Work for People Aged Under 55?

Equity release plans offer flexible solutions for a common problem that many pensioners in the UK face today. Changing social circumstances have led to problems that we see increasingly more often in society today. Longer life expectancy, rising costs of living, probability of needing self-funded long-term care and shrinking pension funds mean that many older people face a severe cash crunch during retirement. While there is a problem of cash flow, many pensioners are homeowners with a hefty untapped equity built into their property. Equity release offers a way to tap into this equity without selling the house or moving.

Today, the UK equity release sector has expanded and offers more flexible and innovative plans than before. The industry and indeed its main voice – The Equity Release Council has admitted that more providers, concepts and flexibility are required to maintain the momentum equity release & lifetime mortgages have now found. It is also much more secure now, being regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and following strict SHIP (now under the guise of the Equity Release Council) standards of service. As the demand for equity release has grown, so have the tools designed for potential customers to understand and negotiate their way around the equity release sector.

Mechanics of the equity release calculator UK

One such tool that could be invaluable is the equity release calculator UK as it offers a simple, quick and convenient way to calculate the maximum amount of money that could be released from your property. An equity release UK calculator takes into account the information that you provide, including your age and current valuation of your property to calculate this amount based on its database of available lifetime mortgage plans.

As such, an equity release calculator UK can only work within the set eligibility criteria of equity release plans. Most equity release plans are only available to people 55 years or over. This means that the equity release calculator can only accept age values that are 55 or above. Many equity release calculators have a lower limit of 55 on their age menu, but some don’t. In any case, an equity release calculator will not work if one enters an age value of lower than 55 years or higher than 100 years! Most sites will default to a minimum age of 55 to ensure calculations are correct.

Could equity release be a possible to the under 55′s?

Whether one day the UK equity release mortgage market will accept lower ages than 55 is yet to be seen. The problem with accepting an age below 55 is the protection provided by the ‘no negative equity release guarantee’. This ensures that at the end of the day the beneficiaries will never end up owing any more than the sale price of the property upon death or moving into long-term care. The cost of this guarantee has to met and is paid for by the customer by way of a slight increase in the equity release interest rate. With no guarantee in place, then we would see lower interest rates in this sector.

However, upon meeting the standards laid down by the Equity Release Council, all equity release companies must facilitate this feature within their schemes; otherwise their scheme cannot meet the SHIP criteria. This is a mandatory requirement and has helped the industry build confidence back up within the equity release mortgage market.

Therefore, until these issues are addressed there are currently no equity release schemes for people under 55 years offered by any of the mainstream equity release providers that are certified by the Equity Release Council. Equity release UK is a good way to raise money to meet pressing demands, but releasing equity impacts your entire life savings and potential inheritance of your beneficiaries so it is always advisable to consider it very carefully – especially if you’re young and expect to live long. P.S. Don’t we all!

What is an Equity Release Eligibility Calculator?

As equity release has become more and more popular in recent times and the interest in equity release plans has increased, new tools are emerging to help users make sense of whether people meet the eligibility test to meet the wide variety of equity release plans available. Every bit of help is needed when trying to find the best equity release plan that could suit them and the first port of call would be to establish eligibility.

Equity release is a potentially life changing financial concept, so it is always best to seek advice from a qualified independent equity release adviser. But before you do that, let’s look at the many convenient tools that could help you negotiate your way around the world of equity release schemes.

There are two main types of equity release plans: lifetime mortgages and home reversion plans. Different plans have different eligibility criteria and terms of lending. An equity release eligibility calculator is an application that, based on the information you provide, can quickly work out whether you are eligible to apply for a certain equity release plan.

For instance, a lifetime mortgage eligibility calculator can help you understand if you are eligible to apply for a lifetime mortgage, and if so, the maximum amount you could potentially release from your home. Eligibility for a lifetime mortgage is based on the applicant’s age and property value. The longer the term of the loan, the more the value would need to be. The shorter the expected term, the lower the value of the property can be. Therefore, in general, the younger the applicant, the higher the property value will need to be.

Who offers an equity release eligibility calculator?

Let’s look at the Aviva lifetime mortgage as an example. The minimum age to apply for this is 55 years, and the minimum property valuation is £75,000. Aviva’s lifetime mortgage eligibility calculator requires the user to enter their age, the value of the property, whether it is a single or joint application, certain details about the property, and whether you want to set any percentage of the equity as an inheritance.

Based on these details the eligibility calculator can tell you not only if you are eligible to apply for this lifetime mortgage but it also works as an equity release calculator and can tell you the maximum amount you could release through a lifetime mortgage. An equity release eligibility calculator is therefore simply a quick and convenient way to find out if you qualify to apply for a certain equity release scheme, and if so, how much you could potentially release.

Another equity release eligibility calculator is offered by another of the prominent equity release companies – Hodge Lifetime. They provide an equity release eligibility calculation to provide information on whether they could qualify for any of the Hodge Lifetime flexible lifetime mortgage products. Additionally, the calculator will provide not only the amount one can borrow, but also what the future balance is likely to be. This is ideal if you wish to see the effect the compounding yearly interest will have on your inheritance when the house is eventually sold.

For a free check to establish eligibility for any of the current range of equity release schemes from the whole of the market, call Freephone 0800 471 4796.

What Are Your Top Key Retirement Solutions?

The Top 18 Equity Release Key Retirement Solutions

As people live for longer and the cost of living increases, it is becoming more and more common for retirees to have financial difficulties during old age. However, a lot of these issues actually arose many years prior to this event, blatantly due to lack of financial planning prior to retirement.

As such, financial planning during retirement has become more important than ever before as managing on a limited budget, fault or no fault of one’s own is a harsh reality for many baby boomers. Therefore, an increasing number of people are looking for flexible ways to get the best value from their existing financial assets in order to address this retirement issue.

The rising popularity of equity release schemes illustrate how much of a growing problem financial insecurity is for many people in retirement. These type of home equity loans offer exactly this type of key retirement solutions many people seek as they usually have no effect on their monthly outgoings.

Let’s look at some of the most significant facts surrounding an equity release mortgage:

Equity release plans allow you to release some of the equity built into your home as usable cash. Both home reversion & lifetime mortgages allow you to do this without the need to sell the house or move out. So, even as you use some of the value of your property, you can continue to live in the house until the end of life, or until you move into a long-term care home
There are two main types of equity release plans – lifetime mortgages and home reversion plans. Lifetime mortgages are like regular mortgages, but only available to people over the age of 55, and have no fixed term. They allow you to release a lump sum of equity from your property which even then remains 100% in your own name. There are usually no monthly payments and the interest charged is added to loan & compounds on a monthly or annual basis. This differs from a home reversion plan where you actually sell a percentage of the property to the reversion provider. In return they provide a tax-free lump sum & a lifetime tenancy agreement is made. Both mortgages will then run on until the end of life, or until you move into care. Most lenders provide a window of 12 months to then sell the property so that the equity release mortgage can be paid off.
A home equity loan calculator can be useful to find out how much equity will be built into your home after a certain period of time. A home equity loan calculator can be useful in a variety of scenarios and is available on a number of financial, comparison and advice websites. A home equity loan calculator is not the same as an equity release calculator and is designed to give you a slightly different information calculus.
A home equity calculator will need some basic information about your property, including the current value of the property, its location, and the yearly rise and fall in the property, in order to work out the equity built into your home. A home equity calculator is therefore a way to calculate simply the amount of equity expected to be built into your home over a certain period of time.
However, an online equity release calculator is a different tool in that it can calculate how much equity one could potentially release from their property. An online equity release calculator UK therefore needs to work out the maximum amount an equity release mortgage provider could potentially afford to lend, based on the expected term of the loan, and the value of your home.
A free equity release calculator is therefore likely to require some basic information about you and your property in order to provide such a calculation. This includes, the age of the youngest enquirer and the current valuation of the property. The free equity release calculator can use this information and based on its database of equity release plans available, can give you a fairly good idea of the maximum release available to you.
An equity release calculator is an application designed specifically to calculate maximum potential release of equity, but there are many other financial tools designed to calculate different things. For instance, there are mortgage repayment calculators that, based on the loan amount, the rate of interest, and term of the loan can calculate how much your payments will be.
There is also a general lifetime mortgage calculator based on the age and income of the enquirer which can work out how much they could potentially borrow. Newer calculus allows some more advanced equity release brokerage’s to offer the interest only mortgage calculator which requires slightly more information such as income details, and details of any adverse credit, in order to ascertain eligibility.
A lifetime mortgage calculator is therefore just one of the many calculation tools available today within the mortgage sector. Depending on what type of application you are using, you may be needed to enter different information relating to your age, health and property, which is relevant to that particular calculation.
Home equity loans provide one of the key retirement solutions to happiness in retirement. There are different borrowing allowances from all the equity release companies, therefore always consult a home loans specialist who can advise on the many forms of home equity mortgages available.
Home reversion equity release plans involve selling a proportion of your home to the equity release lender. There are no monthly repayments with home reversion plans, and the entire amount is recovered when the house is sold, when the proportional share of the equity goes to the lender.
All equity release plans today come with a no negative equity guarantee, which means that your beneficiaries never have to pay anything to the lender even if the equity release loan gets bigger than the property value. This no negative equity guarantee is provided free of charge by the equity release companies, however it is costed into the overall costs and charges of the plan. Should the guarantee not be provided however, the interest rates would be lower on equity release schemes. Therefore any implication of it being free is not entirely true.
Equity release plans are regulated by the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) and the Equity Release Council (ERC) is the industry trade body that represents everyone that works in the sector, including qualified advisers, providers, lawyers, solicitors etc. Membership of the FCA is mandatory as they provide the licence upon which advisers are able to provide equity release advice. However, membership of the Equity Release Council is not mandatory for advisers or solicitors, however it is for the mortgage providers who offer lifetime mortgage & home reversion products.
Recent research has shown that over 80% of the country’s wealth belongs to people over the age of 60, with over £1 trillion in untapped equity. It also shows that many homeowners over the age of 60 have cash flow problems, and are in fact unable to meet their daily costs. The simple equation for their key retirement solutions lies in the equity tied up in their home. Equity release schemes therefore provides one type of solution, however many such as downsizing property still remain & consequently should always be considered.
According to a recent study by the leading charity Age UK, the two most common ways that people were using their released equity were – home repair or maintenance projects at 46% and paying off existing debts at 35%. Following this statistic come the other lesser reasons to release equity in retirement. These would include holidays, new car, caravan, holiday home, financial assistance for the children, long-term care costs or to create an emergency fund in the bank.
Equity release plans have become increasingly popular after the Financial Services Authority (now FCA) started regulating the equity release sector. This initially started with the regulation of lifetime mortgages in 2004, which later then incorporated home reversion plans from April 2007. All advisers practicing in equity release must have the appropriate qualifications either through the CII (The Chartered Insurance Institute) or the IFS (Institute of Financial Services).
There are a number of independent and comparison websites that offer qualified advice about equity release products, and help users understand which equity release plan could suit them best. Search engines, such as Google, Bing or Yahoo will help you search for any related equity release information needed to enable you to conduct your own research. However, even if you decide which equity release scheme you require you would be unable to go direct to the lender as plans can only be completed by qualified advisers. This offers protection to the lenders to ensure the correct plan is taken out.
The latest type of new equity release mortgage to be invented is the enhanced lifetime mortgage where health can affect the maximum loan you can borrow. Therefore, equity release underwriters assess an enhanced lifetime mortgage as they do with an enhanced annuity plan where a health and lifestyle questionnaire is completed. Depending on the answers & severity of the health conditions, will determine the amount they will lend out. Simply put, the worse the state of health, the greater the maximum release.

There are many facts on equity release offering more concepts for key retirement solutions, as well as about how and why equity release plans have become so popular recently. They also talk about different types of equity release plans that are currently available. For more information visit independent advice websites or consult a qualified equity release adviser.

What Criteria is Required for a Home Equity Calculator?

A home equity loan calculator can be useful to find out how much equity will be built into your home after a certain period of time over the short and long-term. An equity calculator can be useful in a variety of scenarios and is available on a number of financial, comparison and advice websites. A home equity calculator is not the same as an equity release calculator and is designed to give you a slightly different information calculus.

A home equity calculator will need some basic information about your property, including the current value of the property, its location, and the yearly rise and fall in the property, in order to work out the equity built into your home. A home equity calculator is therefore a way to calculate simply the amount of equity expected to be built into your home over a certain period of time.

Online equity release calculators

However, an online equity release calculator is a different tool in that it can calculate how much equity one could potentially release from their property. An online equity release calculator therefore needs to work out the maximum amount an equity release mortgage provider could potentially afford to lend, based on the expected term of the loan, and the value of your home.

An equity release calculator is therefore likely to require some basic information about you and your property in order to provide such a calculation. This includes, the age of the youngest enquirer and the current valuation of the property. The calculator can use this information and based on its database of equity release plans available, can give you a fairly good idea of the maximum release available to you.

An equity release calculator is an application designed specifically to calculate maximum potential release of equity, but there are many other financial tools designed to calculate different things. For instance, there are mortgage repayment calculators that, based on the loan amount, the rate of interest, and term of the loan can calculate how much your payments will be.

There is also a general lifetime mortgage calculator based on the age and income of the enquirer which can work out how much they could potentially borrow. Newer calculus allows some more advanced equity release brokerage’s to offer the interest only mortgage calculator which requires slightly more information such as income details, and details of any adverse credit, in order to ascertain eligibility.

An equity release calculator is therefore just one of the many calculation tools available today within the mortgage sector. Depending on what type of application you are using, you may be needed to enter different information relating to your age, health and property, which is relevant to that particular calculation.

With home loans equity is key to the borrowing allowance, therefore always consult a home loans specialist who can advise on the many forms of home equity mortgages available.

How Could An Equity Release Calculation Help My Retirement Plans?

An Equity Release Calculation Could Help Your Retirement Plans

Financial planning during retirement is becoming increasingly important. With rising living costs, growing costs of care, and a shrinking public expenditure budget, it is only wise to use your financial assets optimally to provide for you during retirement. It is no surprise then that equity release plans have become so popular among older homeowners in recent times.

Equity release plans offer a way to tap into the equity tied up into a home in the form of a cash lump sum or monthly cash payments and use it towards anything you wish. The money is repaid only when the property is sold, which is usually upon death or when you move into permanent long-term care. There are no restrictions on what the money can be used for, and it allows a way to use the cash from your home without the need to sell and move out. Equity release therefore offers a way to optimise your property value without any restrictions on what the money can be used for.

Reasons for releasing equity

Different people may use the release of equity for different purposes. For instance, someone may need a cash lump sum for a holiday, home repairs, or for a cash gift for grandchildren. Cash flow can often be a problem during retirement, and some people may need a regular income to supplement their retirement income in order to maintain a comfortable lifestyle.

Just as there are various reasons for people to want to access the equity tied into their home, there are different equity release plans available on the market to suit different client’s retirement needs. Obtaining an equity release calculation can help one not only to work out the maximum borrowing through any given equity release plan, but also to understand how the money can be borrowed. For instance, whether it can be borrowed as a single lump sum, as regular monthly payments, or as and when required, through a drawdown lifetime mortgage scheme.

Facilities for monthly income?

Most people use an equity release calculation to work out the maximum amount they could borrow, and to understand how this money can be used optimally to get the best returns. While some people may best benefit by borrowing in the form of monthly installments, unfortunately this is not an available option with any of the current drop of equity release companies. The only previous lifetime mortgage provider that offered a monthly income option was from Northern Rock & we all know about their demise!

Therefore, if a regular income is required borrowers will need to consider other options. This may come in the form of the more flexible lifetime mortgage schemes and may choose to borrow through a drawdown lifetime mortgage scheme. Some may also choose to borrow the maximum amount and use it to purchase an annuity or other investment product, although using equity release to purchase a market linked investment product could be potentially risky due to the uncertain returns available in the markets. In fact, other than to create an emergency fund, equity release schemes should never be used for investment purposes and is something a qualified equity release adviser should never recommend.

A qualified equity release adviser can help you understand how an equity release calculation can be performed and the money released best used. The first step to understand how releasing equity could potentially help you during your retirement would be to use an equity release calculator to work out how much money you could release through different equity release plans, and how it could be used optimally to plan for your retirement. Once the parameters have been established & monetary figures confirmed the application process can begin in order to convert your wishes into reality & retirement plans fulfilled.

What About Life Before the Equity Release Calculator?

What about life before the Equity Release Calculator?

The growing popularity of equity release schemes has driven a sea of change in the world of retirement mortgages. For one, increases in demand from customers has led to more flexible, innovative and secure equity release solutions being developed all the time. As more and more players enter the market, there has also been an increase in the number of comparison and information websites whom themselves are innovating to provide new tools to help in conducting equity release research.

One of these latest tools is the equity release calculator which was once a novel tool offered only by pioneering websites like Equity Release Supermarket. Today however, the equity release calculator has become a common sight and very common across the marketplace.

What is an equity release calculator?

An equity release calculator is a highly useful application as it allows users to get a fairly good idea of how much you can borrow from the whole of the equity release market. Useful as it is, though, it is a fairly recent development. Prior to the availability of this simple tool, the only way for potential clients to find out the maximum release available on any particular plan would be to contact the equity release provider either by phone, or in person!

This seemed like an awfully tedious way to find out something that could be calculated rather quickly based on a few simple facts. Companies like Equity Release Supermarket therefore invested in a simple application that, once users entered certain basic facts such as age and property value, could calculate maximum borrowing based on a simple algorithm used by equity release companies to calculate borrowing. This application provided the client with the equity release calculation upon which they could base their spending plans.

Today, numerous websites have an equity release calculator. While this is a good thing that enables users to quickly find out maximum borrowing, equity release calculators are now also being used as a form of marketing or advertising to attract potential customers by only promoting certain equity release plans over others. The point of an equity release calculator is to provide a functional and entirely unbiased tool for users to work out the maximum average amount they could release. And the role of equity release comparison websites is to provide impartial information and objective advice about the different options available.

Using an equity release calculator as a marketing ploy seems not only to compromise the ethics behind providing impartial advice and information on websites, but also undermines the entire point of offering such a calculation application to users.

Nevertheless, the fact is that the equity release calculator offered by reputable comparison sites has provided a hassle free and quick way for users to calculate maximum borrowing from an equity release plan. This can form part of the initial equity release research into lifetime mortgage schemes and act as an in-road into preliminary discussions with your lifetime mortgage adviser.

For further information on how to calculate the maximum equity release lump sum call the Equity Release Supermarket lifetime mortgage department on Freephone 0800 678 5159.