Trust & Will CEO Cody Barbo says rising financial stress is reshaping estate planning

Why this matters

The intersection of rising financial stress and record home equity accumulation among Americans is reshaping estate planning in ways that carry broader implications for US commercial real estate capital markets. As households confront economic uncertainty, the growing emphasis on estate planning signals a shift in how real assets, particularly residential real estate, are leveraged within wealth preservation and retirement strategies. The increasing consideration of reverse mortgages highlights a nuanced recalibration of housing equity from a purely consumption asset to a source of liquidity and financial resilience for aging populations. For institutional investors, this trend underscores evolving demand dynamics in the senior housing and mortgage finance sectors. It may also influence capital allocation toward products and platforms that facilitate estate liquidity solutions, including securitized reverse mortgage instruments or senior-focused housing developments. Moreover, the heightened financial anxiety driving these behaviors could tighten lending conditions or alter underwriting criteria, especially for credit-sensitive segments tied to older demographics. In sum, the estate planning pivot reflects a broader recalibration of household balance sheets that institutional capital must monitor closely. It signals potential shifts in asset utilization and financing structures that could ripple through residential real estate investment and lending markets.

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