All alone in a lifeboat?

Our troubled economy has left me feeling adrift, in a lifeboat full of leaks. Just as I’ve managed to plug one closed, another one springs up in a different place.  I know I’m not alone, though. The vanishing real estate market has left millions adrift,  homeless after foreclosure, or bailing water as fast as they can, just to stay afloat. To carry the metaphor further, we’re all like the passengers on the Titanic,  crowded into lifeboats and praying for rescue.

I read today that the median home price in the (California) county I live in has dropped by 65%. I’ve been following the estimated value of my own home on Zillow.com, which reflects a drop of 38% in the past year, compared to the national average of 10.2% and our county of 26.4%.  Fortunately, my equity still is above the “high water line,” and I am presently still in a position to pay both mortgage payments (an interest-only equity line of credit), so am in no immediate danger of foreclosure.

On the other hand, my health is fragile, and I am well past the age when mandatory retirement was required for salaried employees.  I work as an independent contractor, and if I reach the point where I can no longer be productive, I’ll have to move on. That’s life, and no more nor no less than I expect or deserve.

In yesterday’s local paper, I read an article by Michelle Singletary, the financial guru, about a new law affecting reverse mortgages.  That alternate seems worth looking into, should this old lifeboat spring too many leaks.