Key Terms

Adult community: A neighborhood, building, apartment complex, assisted living or nursing facility. These communities offer the older adults living there special services including medical care.

Condominium/coop insurance: Home insurance for people who live in areas where an organization owns and insures the building. Owners pay dues that take care of their property. The group that owns the building will have insurance to rebuild in case of disaster. These policies often only cover the outside of the building. You must fix the damage to the inside. Insurance will help you with this. It also replaces your things and gives you money to live elsewhere during repairs.

Deductible: The amount of money you must pay before the insurance company reimburses you for repairs or replacements.

Discount: Ways insurance companies allow you to save on your premiums. By doing things like installing smoke detectors, you save money.

Equity: The amount of money that you build up over years of home mortgage payments that can be paid to you.

Home insurance: An insurance policy that protects your home and the contents. There are three types of home insurance. Homeowners, renters, and condominium/coop.

Home inventory: A detailed list of the contents of your home. Includes an estimated replacement cost for each item.

Homeowners insurance: Insurance that pays to repair or replace your home if it is damaged. It also insures your possessions, and pay to replace them due to damage or theft. It provides you with living expenses if you are displaced. If someone is injured in your home, it will pay for medical treatment. It also protects you if you damage another person’s property.

Lender: The bank or mortgage company that you borrowed money from to buy your home.

Mortgage: The amount of money you pay monthly for your home.

Premium: The cost of your home insurance.

Policy: A contract that outlines (Actually, that details rather than outlines,)ch the insurance you have on your home.

Renter's Insurance: Insurance that protects the possessions of people who rent their homes. It protects your belongings, and helps pay medical bills if someone is injured in your home. It also gives you money to live on if damage or disaster forces you to move. Actually, it gives you money for extra expenses you incur if damage or disaster forces you to move out of your apartment temporarily. For i nstance if you normally paid $600 a month for rent and you had to stay in a hotel for a month that cost a $1000, you would normally receive $400 for that additional cost.)ch

Reverse mortgage: A reverse mortgage is a special type of home loan that will let you switch part of the equity in your home into cash. Equity is the amount of money that you build up over years of home mortgage payments that can be paid to you. With a reverse mortgage, you don’t have to repay the loan until you and your spouse die or sell your home.

Safety features: Things like smoke and burglar alarms that make your home safer to live in.