Shelley Giordano, Chair of the Funding Longevity Task Force
Shelley Giordano, Chair of the Funding Longevity Task Force
Passion/Expertise:
Shelley has been a pioneer in reverse mortgage lending, having begun her career almost two decades ago. After years at home raising her children, she fell into the unlikely world of reverse mortgages. A local lawyer had established his own company, and having seen how adept she was at raising money for charities, thought she would be good with elderly people. From her very first client she was hooked. She, like other originators, witnessed palpable relief at reverse mortgage closings because the clients were able to improve their retirements without having to give up home.
Shelley lives in Washington, DC and advocates there for financial literacy with Women in Housing and Finance. She mentors and coaches elite loan officers throughout the country who have participated in her comprehensive training program, and who have committed to strict ethical standards.
Position/Experience:
As Chair of the Funding Longevity Task Force, Shelley works to further its mission to bring quantitative analysis to the role housing wealth can play in retirement, specifically “to develop and advance, for Boomers and their financial advisors, a rational and objective understanding of the role that housing wealth can play in prudent planning for retirement income.”
In addition to her duties as Chair of the Funding Longevity Task Force, Shelly leads the Home Equity Retirement Specialist program at Security 1 Lending and has developed a series of calculators to help planners assess housing suitability in retirement. In her career at Wells Fargo and MetLife, Shelley assumed many roles in sales and sales management but has been most steadfast in her commitment to education and ethical lending. She has pursued a long-standing interest in how to integrate housing wealth into the context of a holistic financial plan. In a 15 year career in HECM lending, Shelley has participated as a panelist in the White House Conference on Aging, and served as a speaker for the ABA, NAHB, CNN financial, and numerous other financial groups.
Read a summary transcript of Shelley Giordano’s
presentation Housing Wealth: A Retirement Asset for the Middle Market in the 3rd Qtr 2016 issue of
“Retirement Insight and Trends“.
Education:
Shelley earned a B.A. from the College of William and Mary and an M.A. from Old Dominion University.
Publications/Engagements:
Shelley has spoken on reverse mortgage lending at retirement income planning conferences, and for organizations such as NRLMLA, ABA and NAHB. She speaks frequently on the radio and appeared live on CNNfinancial. She has been a regular participant at industry events and specializes in bringing together reverse mortgage lenders with other financial services experts.
Shelley Giordano writes regularly for the industry and participates as a subject matter panelist for housing wealth in retirement. She is the author of the book “What’s the Deal with Reverse Mortgages?”, and co-author of “What You Don’t Know About Retirement Income Can Hurt You”.
Articles:
- An Asset Hiding in Plain Sight – Introducing the NEW reverse mortgage, Advisor Today, February 2016
- Connecting with Financial Planners, Reverse Review, August 2012
“With the advent of the HECM Saver, we now have a program that appeals to financial advisors. Lower cost, a non-cancellable line of credit, a line of credit that grows independent of home values, and no pre-payment penalty are all attributes financial advisors will appreciate.
Never before has our industry had evidence that the HECM program could play such an important role in mainstream financial planning. But does this mean that we have to become financial planning experts in order to engage financial professionals? Not really. We are the experts in how to unleash home equity safely in retirement years and we don’t need to pose as experts beyond this.
These new studies prove that we do have a powerful message to deliver to financial planners. It might even be argued that we have an obligation to get the conversation started on how home equity can be deployed to buffer the risk of depleting assets when they are undervalued, especially early in retirement.
Remember, when portfolios cycle up and down, there is no real loss until the assets are actually sold. Home equity can stand in for withdrawals from retirement accounts during cycles in which assets are undervalued. Retirees everywhere may be given the option to weave home equity into their distribution of assets to ensure a greater chance of cash flow survival.”
Have Shelley Giordano speak at your event!
Shelley Giordano is one of many experienced speakers and keynote presenters on a variety of topics for your retirement professional development or consumer group.
Please contact us today via email or phone 847-686-0440 x102 if you would like to have Shelley Giordano present at your conference or appear at one of your events, or to receive a free voucher to view a sample of one of our speaker’s work.
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Links
Find courses and products from Shelley Giordano at the Retirement Resource Center.