Reverse Mortgage for the Home Owner

Here is an online response by a reader that is giving his opinion that a reverse mortgage should be based on the needs of the homeowner, not the relatives or children.

Who cares if its only the elderly person's relatives that the reverse mortgage doesn't work for? The point of a reverse mortgage, as I understand them, is to benefit the homeowner, not the homeowner's family members after the homeowner is dead.

A pet peeve of mine: inheritance. Parents: once the kids are grown and out of the house, you've done your job. We're supposed to be a society that rewards individuals based on their merit, and I don't see anything meritorious about merely surviving one's parents. The death of one's relatives is supposed to be a sad event, not like a good day at the track. I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm in favor of a 100% death tax, but something approaching it would be a good idea, with every dollar going into research grants, scholarships, small business loans and other vehicles to reward those who are actually doing something with their lives instead of just waiting for their parents to die. It galls me to no end that I'll be repaying thousands and thousands in student loans for the next decade while Paris Hilton is, well, Paris Hilton.