The Hidden Estate-Planning Issue Advisors Are Talking About and Why Reverse Mortgage Loan Officers Should Pay Attention

For years, the financial industry has focused on the Great Wealth Transfer. But advisers are now confronting an unexpected complication running parallel to it: the Great Stuff Transfer. That is the enormous burden of garages, attics, and storage units overflowing with decades of belongings that heirs neither want nor know how to process.

This issue is increasingly shaping estate planning conversations. And quietly, it opens a meaningful opportunity for reverse mortgage loan officers to build deeper, more strategic relationships with financial advisors.

The Real Problem: Emotional and Logistical Overwhelm for Heirs

Storage units filled with possessions often become a second loss for children. Advisors report:

• Parents assume heirs want their collectibles, antiques or “someday projects.”
• Most adult children want one or two meaningful items, not a house or storage unit of
  clutter.
• Failing to plan for “the stuff” creates stress, conflict, and unnecessary cost.
  Decluttering rarely happens unless there’s a health crisis.

Financial advisors are increasingly initiating conversations about simplifying, labeling sentimental items, documenting intentions, and aligning expectations between generations. This is where the conversation about home equity naturally intersects. Continuity of the family relationship and maintaining assets when the primary client(s) pass is a significant challenge that advisors must solve. Studies show that in over 80% of wealth transition occurrences, advisors do not maintain the assets because they have no relationship with the heirs.

Comprehensive Planning and “The Stuff Problem” Are Connected

Home equity is a major component of actual holistic retirement planning, but its usefulness is diminished when the home itself is filled with decades of accumulated belongings, unused rooms, or deferred maintenance.

Advisors are now recognizing several planning realities:

1. Cluttered, overstuffed homes reflect unmade decisions

Homes packed with decades of possessions often indicate that the homeowner has not made critical decisions about:

• Rightsizing
• Aging-in-place needs
• Future housing transitions
• What heirs will actually want
• What should not be left for heirs to deal with

These are the issues that advisors struggle to help plan around

2. Housing transitions become harder when the “stuff” is the barrier

Even when a reverse mortgage strategy is appropriate, advisors see clients stuck because:

• They won’t move while the house is full
• They can’t downsize without sorting
• Adult children don’t want to deal with the burden

Reverse mortgage loan officers can surface these issues, help clients think clearly about their future housing strategy, and support the advisor’s planning work.

3. A reverse mortgage can fund professional decluttering or rightsizing

Many clients simply can’t or won’t deal with decades of possessions due to:

• Physical limitations
• Emotional difficulty
• Overwhelm
• Cost barriers

A reverse mortgage line of credit or lump-sum distribution can fund:

• Professional downsizing
• Estate clearing services
• Accessibility updates
• Transition assistance
• Decluttering specialists
• Home modifications for aging in place

This transforms a stressful, avoided task into a manageable process.

4. Advisors want professionals who help solve real-life planning friction

The “stuff problem” is not financial theory, but rather it is daily life logistics, family dynamics, and emotional burden.

Loan officers who can speak insightfully about these challenges and position housing wealth as a resource to address them can earn the trust of advisors faster.

How Reverse Mortgage Loan Officers Can Lean Into This Trend

Here are the most valuable ways mortgage loan officers can frame this topic with advisors:

A. Highlight the connection between ‘stuff’ and stalled planning

Advisors know clients who won’t move forward with decisions because the home is overcrowded or the emotional load is too heavy. You can position reverse mortgages as a potential solution that enables decisive action rather than delay.

B. Focus on emotional stewardship, not product mechanics

This topic is about burden reduction:

• Easing heirs’ responsibilities
• Reducing the mess left behind
• Funding the transition to a safer or better environment
• Allowing parents to give a meaningful, thoughtful “final gift”

Housing wealth becomes part of family-care conversation.

C. Provide advisors with a framework to discuss housing transitions early

Loan officers can collaborate with advisors to:

• Identify clients whose homes impede their plan
• Initiate gentle conversations about decluttering
• Map out housing strategies that use equity intelligently
• Reduce future friction for heirs

D. Show advisors that clutter creates financial drag

Storage units, unused rooms, a home that is too big to maintain, and unaddressed repairs all
increase costs:

• Insurance
• Utilities
• Maintenance
• Taxes
• Storage fees

A strategic use of a reverse mortgage can convert stagnant home equity into resources that reduce those burdens.

A New Strategic Talking Point for Reverse Mortgage Pros

Advisors are already talking about the “great stuff transfer.” But they don’t always have the tools to help clients resolve it.

Reverse mortgage loan officers who step into this gap by framing home equity as a means to simplify, declutter, and prepare heirs become part of the emotionally meaningful side of retirement and estate planning.

Financial advisors value professionals who help make those conversations easier, not harder.