The Dangerous Trap of Relying on Home Equity for Retirement

For decades, homeowners have been told the same story: Pay off your mortgage, and you’ll have your retirement handled. It sounds logical. After all, your home is probably your biggest asset. But treating your home equity as your retirement strategy is one of the most dangerous financial mistakes you can make.

Home equity is powerful—but it’s also illiquid, volatile, and deeply tied to market cycles. In my work in real estate and estate planning, I’ve seen countless families who thought their home was their safety net, only to discover how fragile that net really was.

In this video, we’ll uncover why home equity is not a reliable retirement plan, how market cycles and inflation can erode equity, smarter ways to use real estate for income, and how proper estate-planning tools—like living trusts—protect your wealth and your heirs.

Let’s get into it.