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March 15, 2026 • 7 minutes
A reverse mortgage lets homeowners 62 and older turn part of their home equity into cash. There’s no monthly payment required. How much you get depends on your age, your home’s value, and today’s interest rates. Try the calculator below for a real number in under a minute. It doesn’t ask for your name, email, or phone number.
Enter your age, your home’s value, and any mortgage balance below. You’ll get an estimate in seconds, with no personal information required.
Estimate how much cash you could access from a HECM reverse mortgage based on your age, home value, and today’s rates.
This is an educational estimate, not a loan offer. It calculates your principal limit factor by interpolating between HUD’s published age-and-rate factors, so results closely track HUD’s actual table for ages 62 to 92 and rates from 3% to 8%. Above 8% and up to this tool’s 8.5% maximum, it extends that same table using each age group’s observed trend rather than a verified HUD figure. It doesn’t replicate the exact HUD lookup table a lender will use down to the decimal, and it doesn’t account for your specific lender’s margin, program, or underwriting. Figures use the 2026 FHA HECM lending limit of $1,249,125.
For an exact, personalized number, talk with a HUD-approved reverse mortgage counselor or an FHA-approved lender.
This tool models a standard HECM, the loan type used by nearly all reverse mortgage borrowers. It won’t match a lender’s exact quote. It gives you a solid number to start from before you talk to anyone.
Your lender caps your home’s value at the 2026 FHA limit. Then your lender multiplies it by a factor based on your age and expected rate.
The math follows three steps.
First, your lender caps your home’s value at the FHA lending limit. That’s $1,249,125 for 2026, per HUD’s schedule of maximum claim amounts. If your home is worth more, only the limit counts. If it’s worth less, your actual value counts.
Second, that capped value gets multiplied by your principal limit factor. HUD sets this factor using your age and the expected interest rate on your loan. Older borrowers and lower rates both push the factor higher.
Third, your lender subtracts closing costs and any existing mortgage balance. What’s left is your net proceeds, the amount you get to use.
Older borrowers and lower rates both increase how much you can access. A 62-year-old and an 85-year-old with the same home won’t qualify for the same amount.
Age moves the number more than most people expect. The pattern holds: the older you are, the greater your reverse mortgage benefits. Your principal limit factor climbs as you age.
Rates move the number too. When interest rates drop, your principal limit factor rises. Your lender expects your balance to grow at a slower pace. When rates climb, the factor falls.
Home value works the way you’d guess. A more valuable home means a larger starting number, up to the FHA cap.
A 70-year-old with a $400,000 home and no mortgage could net around $140,800 at today’s typical rates. Here’s how that shifts by age, home value, and mortgage balance.
*Estimates assume a 6.25% expected rate and standard closing costs. Your own numbers will vary.
Rates change these numbers fast. Take that same 70-year-old with a $400,000 home. At a 5% rate, net proceeds run closer to $165,700. At 7.5%, they drop to around $119,500. A swing of a couple percentage points can mean tens of thousands of dollars.
You keep ownership and some equity by design. Any existing mortgage gets paid off first, which lowers your net proceeds.
A reverse mortgage never lends you your full home value. Your lender holds back equity so you keep an ownership stake. That way, you can still sell, move, or downsize later.
If you still owe money on your home, your reverse mortgage pays that off first. Only what’s left becomes available to you.
Your heirs keep rights to the home too. If they want to keep it after you pass away, they can repay or refinance the balance. If they’d rather sell, they keep whatever equity remains once the loan is paid.
No. This tool estimates HECM proceeds, capped at the 2026 FHA limit of $1,249,125. Jumbo and proprietary loans use different math and can go higher.
This calculator models a HECM, the loan type insured by the FHA and used by most reverse mortgage borrowers. It caps your home value at $1,249,125 for 2026.
If your home is worth more than that, a jumbo reverse mortgage might get you further. These loans come from private lenders instead of the government, skip the FHA cap, and often skip mortgage insurance too. Jumbo loans don’t follow HECM’s first-year draw limit either, so some borrowers can access their full amount right away.
The tradeoff: jumbo loans aren’t federally insured, so terms vary more from lender to lender. Compare a few quotes before choosing between a HECM and a jumbo loan.
Expect an upfront FHA insurance charge of 2% of your home’s value, plus an origination fee capped at $6,000. Most lenders let you finance both.
Three primary costs reduce your proceeds, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Mortgage insurance costs 2% of your home’s value, capped at the FHA limit, paid upfront. Then 0.5% of your balance every year after that. This insurance guarantees you’ll keep receiving payments even if your lender runs into trouble.
Your origination fee covers the lender’s work to process the loan. HUD caps this fee at $6,000. It’s calculated as 2% of your home’s first $200,000 in value, plus 1% of anything above that.
Closing costs cover the appraisal, title search, and similar paperwork. Expect a few thousand dollars, depending on where you live.
Most lenders let you roll all three costs into your loan balance, so you don’t need cash upfront. For the full cost breakdown, see our guide to reverse mortgage interest rates and fees.
HUD caps your first-year draw at 60% of your principal limit in most cases. The rest becomes available after that.
Say you’re paying off an existing mortgage larger than 60% of your principal limit. You can access more in year one to cover that payoff.
Whatever you don’t draw in year one sits in a line of credit that grows over time. See our guide on why the government limits how much money you can get from reverse mortgages. It covers the exceptions and the full reasoning.
A HUD-approved counselor or lender can give you a firm number based on your exact numbers and today’s rates.
This calculator gives you a solid starting estimate. Your final number depends on your lender’s specific rate, your home’s appraised value, and underwriting details this tool can’t see.
Every HECM borrower needs HUD-approved counseling before applying. It’s a required step. Most borrowers find it helpful. A counselor walks through your numbers, your options, and whether a reverse mortgage fits your bigger financial picture.
A reverse mortgage also changes your monthly cash flow, your loan balance, and what’s left for your heirs over time. Want to see how it fits alongside Social Security, savings, and taxes? You can model it inside the Boldin Planner.
Most reverse mortgage borrowers access between 40% and 60% of their home’s value through the loan. Your specific number depends on your age, home value, and current interest rates. Older borrowers and lower rates both raise that percentage. Use the calculator above for a personalized estimate, then confirm the exact figure with a HUD-approved lender.
Lenders start with your home value, capped at the FHA lending limit of $1,249,125 for 2026. They multiply that number by a percentage called the principal limit factor. It’s based on your age and the expected rate. Then they subtract closing costs and any existing mortgage balance to get your net proceeds.
The reverse mortgage calculator on this page doesn’t ask for your name, email, phone number, or address. Enter your age, home value, mortgage balance, and an interest rate to get an estimate in seconds. Many lender websites require contact information before showing a number. This one doesn’t.
Homeowners whose home is worth more than the FHA limit can still get a reverse mortgage, through a jumbo or proprietary loan. These loans come from private lenders instead of HUD, so they skip the $1,249,125 federal cap. They also skip mortgage insurance, though fees and terms vary more by lender than they do with a standard HECM.
Reverse mortgages are non-recourse loans, so you or your heirs will never owe more than the home’s value when the loan comes due. That protection is confirmed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. If the balance grows larger than the home’s worth, FHA mortgage insurance covers the difference.
Reverse mortgage and reverse annuity mortgage describe the same basic loan. Reverse annuity mortgage was a common term in the 1980s and 1990s. Home Equity Conversion Mortgages, or HECMs, later became the federally insured standard. Today, “reverse mortgage” and “HECM” refer to the same loan.
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