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Barbara Lazear Ascher’s husband gave her the news in the most straightforward way.

One of his clients is Marti Beller Lazear, who is buying a house on Treasure Island, a slender strip of land off the coast of St. Petersburg.

That realization changes her calculation about whether to retire in her new house, Ms. Lazear said.

“You can pay down your house,” Ms. Lazear said.

The program was deeply unpopular but, according to Dr. Lazear and many other administration officials, urgently necessary.