Origins: From nuclear physics aboard submarines to reverse mortgage origination

You don’t often hear about someone with an affinity for nuclear physics finding their way into the reverse mortgage field, but that’s exactly the journey we’re charting in this edition of “Origins” from HousingWire’s Reverse Mortgage Daily (RMD).

Rick Schluter, a New Jersey-based reverse mortgage specialist with Mutual of Omaha Mortgage, became engrossed in physics and math from a young age. That led him into a career with the U.S. Navy as an officer aboard a nuclear submarine during the Cold War. Going from there into reverse mortgages is not an especially common career path, but it was the direction he went.

Affinity for nuclear physics

In an interview with RMD, Schluter explained that he gravitated toward physics and math as a child, then focused his undergraduate studies on both fields. As he was finishing his bachelor’s degree, he became engrossed in nuclear physics, but he didn’t have the resources to pursue a career in that field since it often requires a Ph.D.

But a military track toward working in the field was more realistic, he said.

“I found out that the Navy had a good nuclear training program for those accepted as nuclear submarine officers,” he said. “I got in, passed and became the reactor controls officer on a ballistic missile submarine in the early ’80s, during the Cold War. After that, I taught at nuclear power school, where I was promoted to director of the physics division, and I found I really liked teaching.”

After his service in the Navy ended, he became a lead instructor for commercial nuclear power plant reactor engineers and operators. But the money that certain Westinghouse salespeople were bringing in by selling the seats to the classes he was teaching enticed him into a sales career.

“I figured, ‘If you can’t beat them, join them,’ and I went into sales in the nuclear power industry for about 12 years, then switched to selling enterprise software for eight years,” he said. “I made more money than ever but was miserable.”

That’s when reverse mortgages started to enter the fold.

‘Room to grow’ in reverse

In the early 2000s, Schluter came across an article in The New York Times that described the reverse mortgage product, and a particular statistic caught his eye.

“[That article] said that only about 2.5% of eligible seniors had them,” he explained. “I thought, with the baby boomer generation coming up, this could be interesting. The article mentioned Financial Freedom as the biggest reverse mortgage lender. I called the regional VP on Long Island and she invited me to an interview.”

During that session, her first question was unexpected and has stuck with Schluter ever since.

Reverse mortgage originator Rick Schluter with longtime industry spokesman Tom Selleck.

“’Rick, who do you call on when you sell software?’ I answered, ‘Vice presidents of IT or chief information officers,’” he remembered. “Then she asked, ‘When was the last time one of them gave you a hug or baked you cookies to bring home to your kids?’ I thought she was joking, but she told me this job would be the most satisfying thing I’d ever done — and she was right.”

To be clear, helping seniors was not the only reason Schluter entered the space, he explained. He saw a potentially large financial opportunity, but he didn’t expect to fall in love with the demographic as much as he did.

“After just a few months, I came to love working with seniors — their stories, their humility,” he explained. “I remember sitting with a couple in their 80s at their kitchen table, and 10 minutes into our conversation, the wife asked her husband, ‘Harry, show him the picture.’ Harry pulled out a black-and-white photo of a Little League team, pointed himself out, then asked if I recognized the man standing behind him.”

He did. It was baseball icon Babe Ruth at his Little League game, and Schluter fondly recalls that moment as a highlight. “That kind of experience really makes me love what I do,” he said.

An active participant

Schluter estimates that he has overseen the creation of about 500 reverse mortgages. But part of that is also about being honest in assessing whether it’s the right fit for a particular client.

“I’ve […] advised dozens of seniors against it when it wasn’t the right fit for them. When I get referrals from elder law attorneys or financial advisers, if I don’t think it’s a good fit, I let them know, which surprises people — they expect a hard sell,” he explained.

“If anything, that honesty has earned me more referrals because they know I won’t push it if it’s not right for someone. I just really love what I do.”

When asked if his background in science, math and teaching has been beneficial to his approach with seniors, Schluter said that it unmistakably has proven to be.

“I think approaching it from more of an educational perspective has helped me, and even now, I keep my hand in teaching,” he said. “I’m a guest lecturer in physics and astronomy at the local grammar and high school, so I think coming across as an educator has really helped me in this regard.”