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I recently sat across from a retired client who had everything figured out. Or so he thought.

He owned his home outright. Had $100,000 coming in annually from his employer pension and other sources. But he needed $200,000 a year to cover his lifestyle and medical bills. At that burn rate, he had maybe three years left before his investments ran dry.

The conversation most clients have with me starts the same way: fear about not having enough money, concerns about selling their home, anxiety about uprooting their entire life.

Here’s what nobody tells you: Owning your home outright doesn’t equal financial security in retirement. It just means you’re asset-rich and cash-poor.

The average Canadian receives about $803.76 monthly from CPP—roughly half the maximum amount. Add OAS at $742.31 per month for those 65-74, and you’re looking at around $1,546 monthly from government sources.

That’s $18,552 annually.

In the GTA, that doesn’t cover much. Not when you factor in property taxes, utilities, groceries, healthcare, and the life you actually want to live.

The gap between what boomers think they need and what they have is staggering. Canadian boomers believe they need $1.54 million to retire comfortably, but the average RRSP balance for those aged 55-64 sits around $120,000.

Every situation is unique, but the pattern is consistent: the math doesn’t work.

Back to my client. Using his home equity, I helped him add 13 years of sustainable income. No forced sale. Property continues to appreciate. Problem solved.

But here’s what keeps me up at night: If he’d come to me 10 years earlier, his options would have been completely different.

The dividing line isn’t age. It’s employment status.

When you’re still employed, you can set up a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) on your home. You’re accessing equity at rates around 5%. You have control. You have flexibility.

Once you retire, mortgage qualification drops as it’s driven by income. If your retirement income doesn’t support traditional borrowing, your options narrow to one: reverse mortgages.

Reverse mortgage rates run between 6.5% and 7%. Sometimes higher.

That rate difference compounds over decades.

Let me be clear: reverse mortgages aren’t inherently bad. They offer real flexibility.

You can set up scheduled draws of money paid to you, like a pension. You can take lump sums. You can choose to make no payments at all, letting the interest compound. The lender will never force a sale of your home.

But here’s what happens when you choose the no-payment option:

The interest compounds. Every year, the amount you owe grows. If you take $100,000 at 6.5%, you owe $106,500 after year one. Then interest calculates on that new balance. Year after year.

The reverse mortgage protects the lender mathematically. You’ll never be forced to sell. But you might reach a threshold where you can’t draw anymore money from the property. At that point, if you need additional funds, selling becomes your only option.

The exact outcome you were trying to avoid.

I tell clients in their 50s something that sounds counterintuitive: Set up access to your home equity now, regardless of whether you think you’ll need it.

Not because I’m predicting disaster. Because by the time you realize you need it, you’re usually not in a position to access it on favorable terms.

Most people spend their entire working lives being told the goal is to pay off the mortgage before retirement. I’m not saying that’s wrong. I’m saying it’s incomplete.

The real goal? Balance saving for retirement and mortgage paydown. You don’t want to reach retirement age with a fully paid-off home and no investments to support your lifestyle.

Optimize for both.

When I work with someone in their 50s who’s aggressively paying down their mortgage, I collaborate with their financial planner. We look at where they are relative to retirement savings goals. We map out post-work life plans. We make sure they’re using the time they have on their side to push their investments forward.

Then we look at their mortgage product. Does it give them access to equity if they need it? Can they tap into that wealth without jumping through hoops or accepting unfavorable terms?

Most clients don’t hesitate when we have this conversation. They’ve just never thought about it.

If you’re in your 50s, own your home, and you’re reading this wondering if you should be thinking differently, start here:

1. What kind of income do you need to support yourself in retirement?

Not what you hope you’ll need. What you actually need based on how you live right now.

2. Where are your investments and pensions relative to supporting that income?

Run the real numbers. CPP, OAS, employer pension if you have one, investment withdrawals. Add it up.

3. Do you plan to retire and remain in your home, or sell and move somewhere else?

This determines everything about your strategy.

If those answers reveal a gap between what you’ll have coming in and what you need, your first step is consulting with your financial planner.

If you intend to stay in your home post-retirement, make sure you’re restructuring your mortgage for access to equity. Even if you don’t think you need it.

Because the alternative is waiting until you’re staring at three years of runway, and wishing you’d set up the right tools when you still had the income to qualify for better options.

The clients who move fastest aren’t the ones with the most money. They’re the ones who understand that active debt management is the third pillar of building wealth—right alongside saving and investing.

Your home equity is wealth. But wealth you can’t access when you need it isn’t much different from wealth you don’t have.

Set up the tools now. While you still can.

If you stopped working tomorrow, would your income actually support the life you want — or would you be forced to make decisions you didn’t plan for?

Retirement security isn’t just about how much you’ve saved. It’s about how well your assets are structured. If you’re in your 50s or early 60s and want clarity on what your home equity can (and can’t) do for you, book a consultation. Let’s map it properly — before your options narrow.