Mishawaka, IN

Charles and Joan Henning, aged 79 and 77, respectively, have 26 miniature flags in their downstairs living room. Each represents the country of a foreign exchange student they have befriended.

"When our two daughters got married and moved away, we volunteered to be a host family in an international exchange program," said Joan. "We love to do fun things and to hang out with young people. It's been such a rewarding experience...The students who we have hosted over the years have become our extended family."

The exchange program enables youths to travel to the U.S. to attend one year of high school, or to enroll as a graduate or undergraduate student at the University of Notre Dame in nearby South Bend.

"Some students stayed with us while they were here and others we met at various functions sponsored through the exchange program," according to Joan, who taught French, Journalism, and Drama at the local middle school for 17 years.

Although the Hennings are no longer a host family, they've kept in close contact with many of their former exchange students. Three of them - Christine from France, Gabrielle from Mexico, and Carlos from Brazil - got married in 2002. The Hennings were invited to attend all three weddings, which were held in their friends' native countries.

To raise the money to attend the weddings, Charles and Joan decided to get a reverse mortgage

"We got the reverse mortgage, so that we could go to France and Brazil," explained Joan. "Later we were invited to Gabrielle's wedding in Mexico. Getting the reverse mortgage was a smart move, because we didn't have to dip into our savings."

The Hennings' four bedroom, "ranch-style" home - where they've lived for 50 years - was appraised at $100,000. They obtained a $54,847 reverse mortgage, after payment of closing costs. The loan closed on February 25, 2002. The couple took out an initial draw of $8,000 to pay for the first two trips, and left the balance in a line of credit.

"You know how the Chinese have a Year of the Dog or some other animal," laughed Joan. "Well in 2002 it was the Year of the Weddings for the Hennings. We traveled a lot, but it was so much fun traveling to Paris, and Brasilia [the capital of Brazil] and Saltillo in Mexico. We were treated like honored guests." In addition to paying for their travel, the Hennings also used the funds from their reverse mortgage to buy a computer. The computer, Joan said, "opened up a whole new world for us." The couple now uses e-mail to keep in t

ouch with their children and other friends. "I used the Internet to purchase our plane tickets, reserve hotel rooms, and make other travel arrangements," she noted. "I doubt we could have done any of this without our reverse mortgage, which is why we're advising our friends to get one, too."

Real Borrowers Tell Their Stories: William EllisVancouver, WashingtonOn May 13, 1988, a Friday, William Ellis' life changed forever. It was on this day that his wife, Beulah Marie, suffered a debilitating stroke that left her wheelchair-bound.

"Her mind was still sharp but she was left partially paralyzed on her right side and had problems with her speech," says Mr. Ellis, 77. "I certainly didn't want to see her put into a nursing home. I wanted her here with me.

"The solution lay in adding a fourth room to accommodate his wife's needs. "The existing rooms and hallways were not wide to accommodate a wheelchair, so we had to do something," Mr. Ellis notes.

The Ellis' were living in a single-story, three-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath home at the time of the stroke. "We removed the double garage and added a 23' by 20' bedroom," Mr. Ellis explained. "The cost of this addition was $42,000."

Mr. Ellis said he didn't want to get another mortgage because that would have meant making a monthly payment, so the logical step was to get a reverse mortgage.

He applied for a reverse mortgage and obtained a $55,000 FHA Home Equity Conversion Mortgage with a line of credit.

The reverse mortgage proceeds were used to pay for the addition of the fourth room and other changes, including a handicapped-accessible shower, "so that I could wheel her right into the shower area for bathing purposes," Mr. Ellis said. Other amenities, such as a bed and living room furniture, were brought in to provide additional comfort.

"I got enough money to cover the costs to make these changes, plus some left over to cover everyday expenses," explained Mr. Ellis.

Despite his wife's paralysis, Ellis said he was determined to ensure that his wife experienced a fruitful and enjoyable life. The couple took numerous vacations all over the country. "We weren't going to let her paralysis ruin our lives," Mr. Ellis adds.

Sadly, Beulah passed away a year and a half ago.

Mr. Ellis said he "misses her terribly" and is grateful for the reverse mortgage, which provided the financial assistance needed to help him care for his wife. "If I had to do it over again, I still would have gotten the reverse mortgage," he says. "It really helped out."

Oak Harbor, Washington

If you ask Harriet Dailey, 72, why she got a reverse mortgage two years ago, the answer is pretty simple: she wanted to reduce her daily work load, so she could enjoy life more.

Ms. Dailey taught kindergarten through 12th grade for 32 years, the last 10 as a senior high school English teacher in her hometown of San Jose, CA. Then, in 1990, she retired and moved to Oak Harbor, WA, which is situated on Whidbey Island.

"It's the largest island in the U.S.," she said. "It's in Puget Sound about an hour north of Seattle.

"After retiring from teaching, Ms. Dailey soon recognized that her small pension, plus Social Security, wouldn't be enough to cover her daily living expenses. So she took a job with a local agency that provides in-home care assistance to persons who have trouble functioning on their own.

"I mostly helped prepare meals, did general housekeeping, assisted in bathing and dressing, and played checkers with them if there was nothing else to do," she said. "I'd usually spend about 2-8 hours a day at each persons home. It was very rewarding work.

"On the other hand, working 40-plus hours a week to support herself eventually started taking its toll. "At times, there was a lot of heavy patient lifting involved with my job, which was difficult to deal with sometimes," Ms. Dailey noted.

Then, in 1998, she read in a senior journal that a speaker was coming to town to give a lecture on reverse mortgages, so "I decided to go hear what he had to say.

" Not long after, she applied for a reverse mortgage Ms. Dailey qualified for a $108,000 FHA Home Equity Conversion Mortgage. She has a 1,600 square foot, two-bedroom, two- bath "rambler" home that sits on a half-acre site.

She paid off her existing first mortgage and set up the reverse mortgage so that she would receive $684 a month for the next 12 years. She also has a $10,000 line of credit, which she uses sparingly.

"The line of credit has really helped me out of a lot of holes," says Ms. Dailey. "It's so nice because the little money that I do spend gets replenished because of the interest that I earn. It's a really neat thing.

"Ms. Dailey has used her credit line to help pave part of her driveway and to help repair her car, to name a few projects. More importantly, the fixed monthly payments that she receives have enabled her to slowly cut back on her work schedule. "I've gradually reduced my hours," she said, "so that I'm working roughly 15 hours a week" Now, with more free time, Ms. Dailey is taking a more leisurely approach to life on Whidbey Island, including playing bridge, a lifetime ambition.

"The reverse mortgage has literally saved this little old lady's life," she said.