Possibility of introducing reverse mortgage product in Malaysia

Purpose - The year 2020 heralds a landmark in Malaysia’s demographic and economic landscape, as the country is expected to become an ageing country, as well as aspiring of becoming a high-income country. The elderly persons are, however, reported to be vulnerable to the risk of financial insecurity in old age, which if not addressed can affect the country’s effort of accomplishing the Vision 2020 goal of becoming a high-income nation. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the factors that are capable of affecting the development of reverse mortgage market in Malaysia from the perspective of the financial service professionals. Design/methodology/approach - The study is a qualitative design that involves the use of semi-structured questionnaire as data collection strategy. A total number of nine participants were selected for the interview using critical case sample scheme based on purposive sampling strategy. Findings - The findings reveal that various economic, socio-demographic, behavioural and political/institutional factors would impose varying degrees of influence on reverse mortgage market in Malaysia. Originality/value - The study is expected to spur discussion among stakeholders on the practicability of using reverse mortgage as alternative source of old-age financing in Malaysia.