The Reverse Mortgage can work as a supplement to retirement income just as pensions and social security are currently providing and even if you are taking advantage of both now, you could increase your monthly cash flow through the use of a reverse mortgage and its many benefits. There are fees involved with originating the Reverse Mortgages just as there are fees with other large financial transactions (monthly insurance premiums, real estate commissions, annuity purchases, etc) so its often hard for folks to get beyond the costs involved with originating the reverse. Those closing costs, as most folks call them, are broken down into 3 components, 2% of the homes appraised value for mortgage insurance premium (if under FHA lending limit), another 2% for lender origination fee and the typical costs of conversion or closing costs. The total costs could run 5% of the homes value. The cost of the reverse mortgage calculator is inconsequential if it unlocks an opportunity to open access to significant amounts of liquidity that can increase quality of life issues that you are worried about.