At age 62 you can receive 45% the equity of your house as a lump sum or annuity and not have to pay it back while you own the house. This is called a reverse mortgage. The lender recovers costs fromthe sale of your house after you sell the house.
Reverse mortgages are fine, but I think a lot of people are cashing out their equity earlier with no means to make their mortgage payments once their income is reduced.