Financial innovation tends to make traditional keys of classification obsolete. A case in point has to do with the trade-off between financial and real assets, which is no longer clear-cut: therefore, more attention should be paid to total wealth management rather than focusing on portfolios consisting of securities alone; meanwhile, old homeowners should reconsider their residential property as a way not only to satisfy their housing needs, but also to achieve higher standards of living. Reverse mortgages may help to meet global challenges, such as the combination of an aging population and low birth rates, which seems detrimental to the sustainability of today’s pension schemes; what sounds consoling is the opportunity to look at these loans as a lifetime income planning tool. Yet, potential users are inclined to conceive them just as a remedy against poor consumption and are mostly unable to understand their technicalities, as well as implied costs. In Italy, Law n. 44 regulating the so-called prestito vitalizio ipotecario was enacted on April 2, 2015 in order to better define the legal framework that had started to be generated 10 years earlier concerning reverse mortgages; operating rules were introduced by decree n. 226 of December 22, 2015. Law 44/2015 is the starting point of this paper, that first of all aims at making a few comments on the features of these loans within the Italian financial system. The next step is to analyze some reverse mortgage products that have been recently launched: “Valore Casa”, “PerTe” and “Prestisenior”, offered by UniCredit S.p.A., Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. and Monte dei Paschi di Siena S.p.A. respectively. Conclusions to be drawn suggest that 60+ Italians should be provided with adequate consumer financial protection and be supported by qualified counselors, so as to make more convenient decisions on managing their assets, including housing equity

60+ Italians and Reverse Mortgages: Comparing New Opportunities

MORI, MARGHERITA
2017-01-01

Abstract

Financial innovation tends to make traditional keys of classification obsolete. A case in point has to do with the trade-off between financial and real assets, which is no longer clear-cut: therefore, more attention should be paid to total wealth management rather than focusing on portfolios consisting of securities alone; meanwhile, old homeowners should reconsider their residential property as a way not only to satisfy their housing needs, but also to achieve higher standards of living. Reverse mortgages may help to meet global challenges, such as the combination of an aging population and low birth rates, which seems detrimental to the sustainability of today’s pension schemes; what sounds consoling is the opportunity to look at these loans as a lifetime income planning tool. Yet, potential users are inclined to conceive them just as a remedy against poor consumption and are mostly unable to understand their technicalities, as well as implied costs. In Italy, Law n. 44 regulating the so-called prestito vitalizio ipotecario was enacted on April 2, 2015 in order to better define the legal framework that had started to be generated 10 years earlier concerning reverse mortgages; operating rules were introduced by decree n. 226 of December 22, 2015. Law 44/2015 is the starting point of this paper, that first of all aims at making a few comments on the features of these loans within the Italian financial system. The next step is to analyze some reverse mortgage products that have been recently launched: “Valore Casa”, “PerTe” and “Prestisenior”, offered by UniCredit S.p.A., Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. and Monte dei Paschi di Siena S.p.A. respectively. Conclusions to be drawn suggest that 60+ Italians should be provided with adequate consumer financial protection and be supported by qualified counselors, so as to make more convenient decisions on managing their assets, including housing equity
2017
978-960-598-107-5
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11697/113067
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