Figure’s Michael Tannenbaum on home equity lending to the ‘sandwich generation’

Homeowners in the “sandwich generation” — defined as those between the ages of 40 to 60 — carry the highest monthly debt obligations of any age group. But they also have some of the strongest credit profiles and home equity positions, according to Figure’s internal analysis of home equity line of credit (HELOC) applications. The company’s recent analysis of more than 500,000 HELOC applications through Figure and its partners in 2024 and 2025 found that sandwich-generation applicants have average monthly debt obligations of $5,350 — the highest of any age cohort. That compares with $3,840 for 18- to 39-year-olds and $3,230 for borrowers over 60. In an interview with HousingWire’s Reverse Mortgage Daily, Figure CEO Michael Tannenbaum said he was struck by the finding that members of the sandwich generation hold more credit card debt than housing debt. “More than 40% of our HELOC borrowers are in that group, which is interesting because, generally, financial services — and especially housing-related services — skews a bit older … but the problems of the sandwich generation are highly relevant for what we do at Figure,” Tannenbaum said. On average, these midlife homeowners are managing...