Have you heard of a bucket list? Basically it’s a list of all the things we might want to do before we get too old to enjoy them or even die…

For some people they can be daring and adventurous – climb Mount Everest, go deep sea diving, pilot a plane, swim with dolphins and so on.

For others they can be a bit more modest, from owning a sports car to taking a cruise, and everything in between.

The biggest question is: how do we afford to do the things we have always wanted to do when we haven’t got money in the bank?

The answer might be equity release…

Equity release means releasing some of the value of your home to spend now.

There are two ways of doing it.

Most common is a lifetime mortgage, which is available to anyone aged over 55. These involve using your home as security against a new loan.

You get money to spend, you stay in your home and don’t have to pay off the loan or its interest until you die or go into long-term care and the property is sold. Most products also protect you against negative equity, so you will never end up with a debt if your property value falls.

The disadvantages are that rates of interest on these lifetime mortgages can be higher than other mortgages and of course the value left in your property as an inheritance will be lower once the mortgage and interest are paid.

Then there is something called a home reversion scheme, where you sell a share of your property to a specialist company to generate some money for you. These schemes are usually only available to people over 65 and it is worth remembering that companies will not give you the full market value for the share they buy.

Either way, once you have the money it’s yours to do with as you choose. Either tackling that bucket list or something more practical, like helping your children to buy a house, paying towards your children’s or grand-children’s education or having more money for your retirement.

There are, as I say, advantages and disadvantages and it is certainly worth getting plenty of advice before you decide to go for it.

But if you are cash poor but equity rich, it can be an excellent solution.

Call me to discuss equity release in more detail.