not to rely on home equity for supplemental income. “There is a clear shift from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market,” Williams says. “People have supplemented their income using equity from their homes, which created false income, because it created more debt, and actual wages didn’t increase.”
Norwood says he and his wife, Molly, won’t be too compromised by the loss of income. The couple decided early on to pay off home and car loans before retirement. “I don’t expect our lifestyle to change,” he says. “Not because we won’t be hit deeply, but because we have lived in a conservative manner.”