The Quick Read: Across the select programs in Lendmire’s wholesale network, $500,000 in cash produces about $8,333 of monthly qualifying income on the asset depletion path, because eligible assets are divided by 60 months. That figure drops to roughly $5,833 if the whole balance sits in a retirement account. The result depends on what kind of assets you hold.
- Cash and CDs count at 100%, so they contribute the most qualifying income per dollar of the $500,000.
- Securities count at 80%, which yields a somewhat lower monthly qualifying income.
- Retirement accounts count at 70%, which yields less monthly qualifying income than securities.
- Real-estate equity counts at 60%, which yields the lowest monthly qualifying income of the four.
- A separate asset qualifier path skips the income math entirely. It asks whether usable assets cover the whole loan.
All of this is illustrative and subject to underwriting. The lender’s own calculation governs.
The Short Math at $500,000
On the asset depletion path, the formula is simple. Usable assets, after the haircut for each account type, divided by 60 months equals monthly qualifying income. A haircut is the share of a balance the lender chooses not to count.
Here is the same $500,000 in different accounts, using the percentages most programs in the network publish:
| Where the $500,000 sits | Share counted | Usable assets | Monthly qualifying income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash or CDs | 100% | $500,000 | about $8,333 |
| Securities | 80% | $400,000 | about $6,667 |
| Private stock | 75% | $375,000 | about $6,250 |
| Retirement accounts | 70% | $350,000 | about $5,833 |
| Real-estate equity | 60% | $300,000 | about $5,000 |
Mixed portfolios blend these. Say you hold $250,000 in cash and $250,000 in a retirement account. The cash counts in full. The retirement balance counts at 70%, so $175,000. Usable assets are $425,000, and divided by 60 months that produces a qualifying income figure that falls between the all-cash and all-retirement results above.
Same $500,000 on paper. Very different results.
How Does the Number Actually Get Built?
The lender builds the figure in five steps. Each one can shrink it, and none of them can make it bigger.
1. Inventory the accounts. The lender lists every account you want counted and checks that each type is eligible.
2. Apply the haircut. Each balance is multiplied by its percentage from the table above.
3. Remove money you are spending. Funds that go to your down payment or closing costs are no longer sitting in the account. You can’t count them twice. Lenders review this at the file level.
4. Divide by 60 months. This is the divisor, the number of months the lender spreads your usable assets across.
5. Run the result through debt-to-income. Debt-to-income, or DTI, compares your monthly debts, including the new housing payment, to your qualifying income.
You keep the assets. Nothing is sold, drained or pledged. The division is a qualifying convention, not a withdrawal schedule.
Some assets don’t count at all on this path. The list includes cash on hand, stock options, non-vested restricted stock units, deferred compensation, escrow accounts, custodial accounts and foreign funds. Cryptocurrency, precious metals and collectibles are not published as eligible on either path. The documented route is converting them to a seasoned cash balance in a regulated account, with the source reviewed by the lender.
What Does $8,333 of Income Actually Carry?
That monthly figure has to support the full housing payment plus your other debts. The lender tests it against a DTI limit, and the borrower’s credit score and loan size matter too. On the depletion path, scores follow the lender’s matrix, and a first-time investor needs a 700.
Two minimums matter at this asset level. Most programs on this path want qualified assets of at least the lesser of $1,000,000 or 1.25 times the loan balance. And when asset depletion is your only income source, qualified assets can’t fall below $250,000 liquid.
A $500,000 portfolio therefore works best for a modest loan. The 1.25x test means the loan balance has to stay well under the asset total. Loans on this path start at $125,000 and run up to $3,500,000, so the program has room at the low end.
There is a second use. Asset-derived income can supplement documented income, such as a pension or part-time earnings, up to a 45% DTI. When it supplements, the minimum-assets rule is waived. So $500,000 often does its best work as a top-up to income you already have, not as a stand-alone qualifier.
Leverage depends on the property. On a principal residence or second home, the depletion path allows up to 80% LTV on a purchase or rate-and-term refinance and 60% on a cash-out refinance. LTV, or loan-to-value, is the loan balance as a share of the property’s value. On an investment property, the ceilings are 65% on a purchase or rate-and-term refinance and 60% on a cash-out. Cash-out proceeds never count as qualifying assets. These are ceilings, not offers, and each file is underwritten individually. Exact terms depend on the lender’s guidelines, property type, leverage, and a full review of the borrower’s file.
Or Skip the Income Math: The Asset Qualifier Path
The asset qualifier path asks a different question. Do your eligible assets equal or exceed the entire loan amount? If yes, no employment or income is documented. A borrower is qualified on one path at a time, so the two tables never blend.
Credits on this path run higher than on the depletion path:
| Asset type | Share counted (qualifier path) |
|---|---|
| Brokerage accounts | 100% |
| CDs, money market, savings | 100% |
| 401(k) or IRA, under age 59½ | 90% |
| 401(k) or IRA, 59½ or older | 100% |
So $500,000 in brokerage accounts counts as $500,000. The same sum in a 401(k) held by a 52-year-old counts as $450,000. At 59½ it counts in full.
The qualifier path allows up to 80% LTV on a purchase and 75% on a refinance, on a principal residence or second home. It carries a 600 minimum score. Loans go up to $4,000,000. Reserves aren’t required at or below 75% LTV, and above that the lender sets them. Every figure here varies by lender and program: guidelines, property type, leverage, and credit profile all apply.
What does that mean for a $500,000 portfolio? The loan has to sit at or below usable assets. For a buyer putting money down from the same accounts, the lender looks at what remains. For a smaller loan, a retiree with a big cash balance and little documented income may never need the income division at all.
Qualifier-path assets need 60 days of seasoning and two months of statements per account. Depletion-path files need statements at least 120 days old plus a recent one within 45 days. The assets are always documented. No income documentation never means no documentation: you provide statements, not traditional personal-income documentation, pay stubs or employment verification.
Why Not Divide by 360 Instead?
Some well-known qualifying methods use a much longer divisor, and the gap in results is large. A generic Calculator Academy asset depletion example applies a 70% haircut to a $500,000 balance and spreads the result over 360 months, producing a very small monthly figure. Dividing that same haircut balance by 60 months instead produces a monthly figure six times larger.
That is a six-fold difference from the divisor alone.
Agency-style rules work differently from the programs here. Fannie Mae’s bulletin on employment-related assets raised the maximum LTV from 70% to 80% when the asset owner is at least 62 at closing, and it limits which assets qualify. Freddie Mac’s guide has its own parallel section. Those are agency rules, not the rules of the programs described here.
Across the programs Lendmire places files with, divisors and haircuts vary by lender. The 60-month divisor used in the examples above produces the highest income. Don’t compare two quotes without checking which divisor and which haircuts sit behind each one.
Income You Can Spend vs. Income You Qualify With
Search for income from $500,000 and you will find plenty of retirement articles. They answer a different question. Spendable income is what a portfolio pays you through withdrawals, interest or dividends. Qualifying income is a number the lender assigns so your DTI can be tested.
The two figures don’t match, and they aren’t meant to. The lender’s figure can come out lower than what you would spend, and nothing leaves your account to produce it. It also says nothing about whether your portfolio will last through retirement. Your financial plan answers that. The loan file only needs a consistent way to turn balances into income.
Tax treatment varies; consult a qualified professional.
Is $500,000 Enough?
It depends on the job you want the assets to do.
Alone, on the depletion path: $500,000 sits in the middle of the range. All cash gets the most income. All retirement funds gets the least. Either way the loan has to be modest, because of the 1.25x test described earlier.
As a supplement: Picture a borrower with a pension who needs a bit more qualifying income. The assets add to documented income, up to the 45% DTI limit, and the minimum-assets rule falls away. That is where $500,000 often earns its keep.
On the qualifier path: If the loan is small relative to a large cash balance, the assets cover it outright and income never enters the file.
On an investment property: The depletion path allows 65% on a purchase, which means a larger down payment. And asset depletion is a personal qualifying method. A DSCR loan works differently. DSCR loans are designed for non-owner-occupied investment properties. Because they are business-purpose investor loans, they are reviewed differently from a standard owner-occupied mortgage. A DSCR file qualifies primarily on property-level rental income covering the payment, subject to lender guidelines. If the rent covers the payment, you may not need an asset calculation at all.
An investor holding $500,000 can therefore have two good options. Use the assets to qualify personally, or let the property qualify itself. Which fits depends on credit, leverage and the property.
Mistakes That Shrink the Number
- Entering $500,000 gross. Haircuts and the down payment come first. The usable base is lower.
- Counting ineligible assets. Cash on hand and unvested stock won’t be counted on the depletion path.
- Mixing the paths. Qualifier credits (such as 90% on a 401(k)) differ from depletion haircuts (70%). Pick one path per file.
- Stale statements. Depletion files need statements at least 120 days old plus one within 45 days.
- Moving money late. Qualifier files need 60 days of seasoning. A fresh transfer into an account can disrupt that.
- Forgetting other debts. Car loans, cards and other obligations all sit inside the DTI test.
Key Terms Defined
Haircut: the share of an account balance the lender does not count, which covers price swings and withdrawal costs.
Divisor: the number of months used to divide usable assets into monthly income. This article’s depletion examples use 60.
Seasoning: the time funds must sit in your account, shown by statements, before the lender counts them.
Debt-to-income (DTI): your monthly debts, including the new housing payment, compared with your qualifying income.
Asset qualifier path: qualification where eligible assets must cover the whole loan and no income is documented.
Asset depletion path: qualification where usable assets are turned into monthly income that then runs through DTI.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the full $500,000 count toward qualifying income?
Rarely. Cash and CDs count at 100% on the depletion path. Securities count at 80%, retirement accounts at 70%, and real-estate equity at 60%. Anything you spend on the down payment or closing costs is no longer available to count.
Do I have to sell my investments or drain my retirement account?
No. You keep ownership and control. The lender divides the usable balance by 60 months to create a qualifying income figure. That figure is a convention for the DTI test. It isn’t a withdrawal plan.
Can I use this on an investment property?
Yes, on the depletion path, with lower leverage: up to 65% on a purchase or rate-and-term refinance and 60% on a cash-out. Cash-out proceeds don’t count as qualifying assets. A DSCR loan is the alternative, since it is reviewed on the property’s rent instead. Both are subject to lender guidelines.
Does age change how retirement accounts are counted?
It depends on the path. On the qualifier path, 401(k) and IRA balances count at 90% under 59½ and 100% at 59½ or older. On the depletion path, retirement accounts count at 70% at any age.
Is Lendmire a lender, and where does it arrange these loans?
Lendmire is a mortgage broker. It arranges asset-based mortgages through select lenders in its network, and consumer mortgage lending is licensed in 16 states: Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Washington. Programs change, and every file is underwritten individually.
Next Step
If you are qualifying on assets rather than income and want to see how the numbers work, Lendmire can help you compare asset-based mortgage options based on your statements, the property, credit profile, leverage, and your goals. Reach the team at 828-256-2183.
A big balance with thin documented income is exactly the profile these programs were built for, and the account types matter more than the headline total. For current guidelines and terms, see Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage programs page.
About Lendmire
Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) is a mortgage broker licensed for consumer lending in 16 states. Scotsman Guide named Lendmire a Top Mortgage Workplace in both 2025 and 2026.
Investors who want the broader program framework can review how DSCR loans work.
Get Started
Ready to find the right loan for you?
In about 30 seconds you can review financing options available for your home or investment property. No commitment required.
Informational only. Not a Loan Estimate, approval, or commitment to lend. Program availability and eligibility are subject to lender guidelines, credit approval, property review, and underwriting.
References
1. Calculator Academy asset depletion mortgage calculator
2. Fannie Mae SEL-2018-08 bulletin
3. Freddie Mac Guide section 5307.1
This article is part of Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program — full qualification details, guidelines, and scenarios live on the program page.
Related reading: Can You Buy a Michigan Rental Property on Asset Depletion Income? · Real Estate Equity vs Liquid Assets on an Asset Depletion Mortgage · How Much of Mutual Funds Counts Toward Asset Depletion Income?
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
- Mortgage Loan Originator · NMLS# 1129696 · Verify on NMLS Consumer Access
- North Carolina Real Estate Broker · License# 343312 · Verify on NCREC
- North Carolina Insurance Producer · License# 19053198 · Property, Casualty, Life, Health · Verify on NAIC SBS
- Lendmire LLC · Firm NMLS# 2371349 · Verify firm licensure
Compliance and disclosures. Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) is a licensed mortgage broker and is not a direct lender, depository institution, financial advisor, or tax professional. Content in this article is general market analysis and educational information — not financial, legal, or tax advice for any specific situation. Lendmire does not guarantee loan approval; every transaction is subject to underwriting by the funding lender. Mortgage pricing and loan program guidelines are subject to change at any time without notice and vary by borrower characteristics, property type, and state regulations. Lendmire complies with Equal Housing Opportunity. Licensure verification: NMLS Consumer Access.