A mashkanta after 55 and in retirement: term, payment and the reverse mashkanta
Buying a home after 55, or taking a mashkanta when retirement is already close? The Bank of Israel directives set no age after which a mashkanta is not allowed. What matters is the term, the payment against your income today and after retirement, and how you will repay part of the mashkanta from money that comes later. There is also a special loan for people of this age, the reverse mashkanta (משכנתא הפוכה). Here is what the directives say, and what the websites of those who offer it say.
Calculate a new mashkanta: how much the bank can lend you and in what mix (תמהיל)
Want to know how this affects your mashkanta?
Have a mashkanta consultant call meUp to what age
The Bank of Israel directive on mashkantas sets no age. It sets that a new mashkanta is no longer than 30 years (Proper Conduct of Banking Business Directive 329, section 8). The maximum age at the end of the mashkanta is set by each bank itself; if it is not written on the bank's website, ask before you apply.
Because of age, the bank may approve a term shorter than 30 years, and a shorter term means a higher monthly payment on the same amount. Examples of the age banks wrote on their websites, and which borrower they go by, are on this site's questions and answers page, in the question about the age by which you must finish paying.
The payment against income, after retirement too
The monthly payment is no more than 50% of disposable income (section 5). Any income counts if it is paid regularly, backed by a document, and paid into the bank account (Appendix A to the directive). By this wording, a monthly pension that meets the three conditions is counted income too.
The directive does not say that income after retirement must be checked. So, if retirement is close and your income will drop after it, work out yourself what the payment will be against the expected pension, not only against today's salary.
Close relatives can help. The bank may also count half the disposable income of first-degree relatives (for example parents, siblings and children) who are not buying the home, if they guarantee the loan, the bank also checked their ability to repay, and they pay at least 20% of the monthly payment themselves, from their own account (Appendix A, section 1.3).
Repaying from money that will come: severance pay or a keren hishtalmut (קרן השתלמות)
Expecting a large sum in a few years, for example severance pay at retirement or a keren hishtalmut that becomes available? You may use it to repay part of the mashkanta early (Banking Order (Early Repayment of a Housing Loan), section 1). What this costs on the repayment day depends on the maslul, and you can plan it already when choosing the maslulim:
A prime maslul. It has no discounting fee (היוון), the part that can reach large sums, on whatever day you repay (section 4(2) of the Order).
A maslul whose rate changes every few years. On the day the rate changes, the exit point, of all the fees in section 3 only the operating fee is charged (section 4(3)). When such an exit point falls close to the date the money is expected, you can repay on it without a discounting fee.
A fixed-rate maslul. The discounting fee is charged only if the average rate on the repayment day is lower than your rate (section 3(3)), and it is reduced by 20% three years after you received the loan and by 30% after five years (section 8(ב)).
A madad-linked (consumer price index) maslul. Repay from the 16th of the month onwards: between the 1st and the 15th the bank may charge an extra fee based on the change in the madad (section 5).
At least a third of every new mashkanta must be at a fixed rate (Proper Conduct of Banking Business Directive 329, section 7), so the whole mashkanta cannot go into maslulim that are repaid without a discounting fee. And on every maslul, written notice to the bank 11 to 45 days before the repayment date saves the no-notice fee. All the parts of the fee, and how to choose between a shorter term and a lower payment: in the guide to the early repayment fee (עמלת פירעון מוקדם).
The reverse mashkanta (משכנתא הפוכה): what it is
A reverse mashkanta (משכנתא הפוכה) is a loan for older people secured on a home they already own. The difference from an ordinary mashkanta: you may skip repaying the principal, the sum you borrowed, during the loan, and sometimes the interest too. What remains of the debt is repaid at the end: when the home is sold, from the heirs' money, or when you decide to repay early.
It is offered by banks and by insurance companies too, and the terms differ from one to another. Two examples whose terms are written on their websites:
At Bank Jerusalem. For people aged 55 and over, on a home with no lien in favour of anyone else. The money comes at once or in several instalments, for any purpose the bank approves. Each month you pay only the interest, and the principal stays until the end. The term is up to 30 years, and the younger borrower is no older than 85 at the end of the loan.
Building insurance is required, and life insurance for customers up to age 64.5. The heirs can receive the home, but they will have to repay the loan balance. You can repay at any time, with the fees for closing the loan.
At Harel, in the «Mashkanta 60+» plan. For people aged 60 and over (for a couple, both), on a fully owned home worth at least 1,000,000 ₪, with a loan from 250,000 ₪. You can choose: pay nothing until the end, pay only the interest each month, or a fixed payment of interest and part of the principal.
The debt is repaid when the home is sold, after the death of the last borrower, or on early repayment. When the home is sold, the heirs receive the difference between the sale price and the loan balance. Life insurance is not required, and an appraiser's valuation of the home is needed.
Why the debt in a reverse mashkanta (משכנתא הפוכה) grows
When you pay nothing, the interest does not disappear: it is added to the debt. Next month the interest is charged on a larger debt, including the interest that was added, so the debt grows every month, and faster as time goes on. That way less of what the home is worth is left to the heirs.
When you pay the interest every month, the debt does not grow, but it does not shrink either: the whole principal is left for the end.
What to ask for before you sign
In writing, from every provider that makes an offer: the rate, whether it is linked to the madad, whether it is fixed or variable, and what the debt will be after 5, 10 and 15 years under each way of paying. That is how you compare offers from two or more providers, and also an offer received directly with one that came through an agent.
All the costs: the arrangement fee, appraiser, lawyer and insurance, and whether they are added to the debt or paid separately.
Early repayment fee: the Bank of Israel Order on the early repayment fee applies to a loan a bank gave secured on a residential home (section 1 of the Order). Harel writes that charging the fee is at the company's discretion, so ask in writing when it is charged and how much it is.
And on a loan from a bank, when the borrower has died, the fee for not giving advance notice is not charged (section 3(2)(ב) of the Order). The other parts of the fee can still apply.
How to check here
An ordinary mashkanta can be checked here. When building a mortgage mix there is a field for the older borrower's age, and the term the site offers ends at age 80 at the latest. That is our assumption, not a Bank of Israel rule. And the balance statement of an existing mashkanta is uploaded for a check, and you see, maslul by maslul, what repaying each maslul costs today. The site does not check a reverse mashkanta: its checks are built for an ordinary mashkanta.
Before any step, check with your bank. The payoff balance, the early repayment fee and the rate on a new offer are set by the bank, and its figure is the one that counts.
Sources and dates
Proper Conduct of Banking Business Directive 329 «Limitations on Granting Housing Loans», version 13: sections 5, 7 and 8 and Appendix A, read on 02/11/2026. Banking Order (Early Repayment of a Housing Loan), 2002: sections 1, 3, 4, 5 and 8, read on 02/11/2026. The reverse mashkanta (משכנתא הפוכה) page on the Bank Jerusalem website and the «Mashkanta 60+» page on the Harel website, which carry no update date: read on 02/11/2026, and we will check them again by 02/05/2027. Published 02/11/2026.
The documents themselves, on the Bank of Israel website (in Hebrew):
The explanation pages of the bank and the insurance company:
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