On: Why were Victorian elites so effective?

    > the largest fraction of which is probably their house (so not income-producing)

What about a reverse mortgage? The US has a federal programme, similar to Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac, to stimulate the market. Some details here: https://www.investopedia.com/mortgage/reverse-mortgage/

Roughly 1/3 of Boomers also have private pensions (remember those from before the 2000s?). Social Security is about 25K USD per year. It is expected to only cover 40% of living costs. It is scary how many retired Americans live only from Social Security in their retirement.