David's Story: How David used Tuehold to help his mom age in her own home

Many aging parents want to stay in their home for the rest of their lives. Affording home care, however, can be challenging for family caregivers.

The Truehold team talked to David, the son of a Truehold resident in St. Louis, who used our sell and stay transaction to help his mom stay in her home. 

The Financial Challenges of Caregiving

David helps care for his 91-year-old mom by managing her finances. This isn’t an easy task—like many retired older adults, she hasn’t worked in decades, and social security is her sole source of income. “Especially in this time of high inflation her social security simply wouldn’t keep up with the incremental increases across the spectrum of daily, monthly, household bills, food, that sort of stuff.”

David recognized that his mom’s main source of wealth was her house, but her long term goal was always to stay in her home. Several of her family members lived past 100, so David asked himself, “How do I get that capital to support her staying in her house?”

None of David’s initial options felt right: “I did look into the reverse mortgage possibility and the complexity of that product…It was debt that would’ve been due within a short time period of her demise or leaving the home, saddling the estate with debt… I just am not one to borrow money, especially when it’s her money that I’m working with, it’s her house…So the choices for us were very slim.”

“I just am not one to borrow money, especially when it’s her money that I’m working with, it’s her house.”

Affording to Stay at Home

When David discovered Truehold, he thought, “Why didn’t anybody else do that? It sounds like the perfect product because it gives her her capital and allows her to stay in her home.”

David and his siblings, like many adult children, don’t have the finances to support an additional household. With Truehold, he’s able to help his mom afford to take care of herself with the money she saved through her home equity. Truehold “has provided for my mom to upgrade her lifestyle, it allows us to spend a little more freely on her clothing and her food and her transportation, for us as a family, it allows us to take care of my mom better.” 

And, most importantly, she’s able to stay in her home as a renter. “The memories…for my mom, that’s why she doesn’t want to go anywhere. Keeping her house is that important to her because…that’s what brings really real joy to her.”

“For us as a family, it allows us to take care of my mom better.” 

Clear, Easy, Fast

“I was astounded at the immediate response I got…clear, easy, fast. And then as we went further on, my experience was clarity and speed. If I had a question, and I ask a lot of questions, I got an answer.” 

David enjoyed working with Truehold because of how invested everyone was in ensuring that he understood and felt confident in his decision. “You were contacted by a person every time, and I really appreciated that because we’re talking about my mom’s house, you know, my mom’s future. To me that was important to have that kind of non-machine response. I wanted people to be concerned about our situation and the folks at Truehold, everyone of them expressed that, every one of them.”

For David, Truehold “was like a good pair of shoes, it fit!”

 “To me that was important to have that kind of non-machine response. I wanted people to be concerned about our situation.”

‍Thank you to David for sharing your story! 

Are you a caregiver trying to find options to help your parent afford to live at home? Truehold’s sell and stay transaction can help them access their own wealth and keep living at home as a renter. 

_{This story is based on an interview between the customer and a member of the Truehold team. All quotes are from the customer, with some words cut for length and clarity. The customer may have received compensation for their time.}