10/09/2026
Reverse Mortgage Helps Business Consultant and Author Plan for Retirement
Richard Chang, PhD, aged 69, is an internationally renowned and respected business consultant, best-selling author and public speaker who has spent the past 40 years helping businesses, professional trade associations and individuals achieve their strategic goals and ambitions.
His clients include a who’s who of commercial and non-profit organizations, including Toshiba, Marriott, Sony, Universal Studios, Hasbro, Nabisco, Nissan, Citibank, Disney, McDonald’s, Fidelity Investments, American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS), International Coaching Federation (ICF), Environment Protection Agency and U.S. Bankruptcy Courts.
Chang also founded a publishing company that prints “how to” books for business professionals and consumers to help them excel at their jobs and as managers and leaders.
Among the 31 books that he has authored is the best-seller, “The Passion Plan: A Step-By-Step Guide to Discovering, Developing, and Living Your Passion” which is still widely read 25 years after it was first published in 2000.
At the peak of his career, Chang was on the road 300 days a year. In 2024, he started to slow down and think about the next stage of his life…and how a reverse mortgage might fit in.
“I was trying to figure out, okay, how do I want to live my life. How do I want to manage my resources? Where do I want to put my money in terms of either investments or day-to-day lifestyle? What kind of debt do I want to carry and so forth. These are things that people might consider when they’re going into the retirement stage of life,” Chang recalls.
Chang grew up in Maryland, lived in California for many years and currently resides in Las Vegas.
“Las Vegas has transformed dramatically over the last five to ten years,” he adds. “It’s now a full-on city and not just a destination for gambling. We have a new ballpark that’s being built near The Strip for the Oakland A’s. You can do everything here. Property values are destined to continue to increase, I believe.”
Based on the estimated value of his condominium, his age and prevailing interest rates, Chang was told he could pay off a small mortgage and some credit card debt, and other personal debts that he wanted to get rid of.
Before signing any paperwork, he first met with a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-certified housing counselor who provided additional information about his reverse mortgage and possible alternatives. Chang thought it through and in the end decided to proceed with getting the reverse mortgage.
“The reverse mortgage became part of a package that gave me the ability to live in my home, without a monthly mortgage payment, and move forward,” says Chang.
While he’s semi-retired, Chang isn’t slowing down.
“If you know Vegas a little bit, you’ll notice that a lot of people who are well over the retirement age are still working.That’s one of the unique aspects of living in a city that operates 24/7,” he says.
Chang has several part-time jobs, one of them being a certified poker dealer.
“I’ve loved playing poker since I was young,” adds Chang. “Just for fun, I got certified as a poker dealer about a year-and-a-half ago.” He gets invited to private parties or offered the occasional shift at a casino that’s short-staffed in their Poker Room.
“It’s interesting to go from being a player to being on the dealer side. A lot of times, players get mad at the dealers because they blame them if they lose a hand. Now I get to hear the stuff from the players,” laughs Chang. “It’s fun for me, because it keeps me alert. It keeps me active. It keeps me involved in something that I really enjoy and have fun doing, and I think of it as a good break from other things that I do during the day.”
