The FIRE Home Equity Line of Credit Math That Changes Your Drawdown Strategy

Episode 94 of the FIRE Podcast examines a little-known early retirement drawdown tool: the home equity line of credit, or HELOC. Lucas and Luna walk through a concrete scenario where a 50-year-old early retiree with $1.2 million in a taxable brokerage account and $400,000 in home equity uses a HELOC to avoid selling assets during a market downturn. They compare the HELOC's interest cost against the tax and sequence-of-returns cost of selling shares in a bear market, using a real 2022-style 25 percent drawdown example. The hosts also discuss the risks: variable rates, potential lender freeze, and the discipline to repay the line during recovery years. The episode closes with practical rules for when a HELOC makes sense versus when it's a trap. Ideal for FIRE followers managing the first five to ten years of spending before Roth ladder access. #FIRE #EarlyRetirement #HELOC #DrawdownStrategy #SequenceOfReturnsRisk #HomeEquity #RetirementPlanning #PersonalFinance #Investing #TaxStrategy #FinancialIndependence #BearMarket #PortfolioManagement #Liquidity #InterestRates #Finance #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo