The Quick Read: Yes, a Washington retiree can qualify for a mortgage on savings and investments, through select non-QM programs that treat verified assets either as the full backing for the loan or as a monthly qualifying income. Which path fits depends on how large the portfolio is relative to the loan and whether the retiree wants to document any income at all.
- The asset qualifier path counts eligible assets against the entire loan amount and documents no income.
- The asset depletion path divides usable assets by 60 months to create qualifying income, which then runs through a debt-to-income test.
- A borrower is qualified on one path at a time, never a blend of both.
- Assets are documented and seasoned on both paths. Skipping income documentation never means skipping documentation.
- Every figure here is a ceiling or floor, subject to underwriting and lender guidelines, not an offer.
A retiree with a seven-figure portfolio and a modest pension is the classic asset-rich, income-light borrower. Conventional underwriting looks at paychecks and traditional personal-income documentation. That’s a poor fit. Asset-based programs look at what you own.
Lendmire arranges consumer asset-based lending as a broker through select lenders in its network, and its consumer mortgage lending is licensed in 16 states, Washington among them. The program figures below do not change by state. Washington facts like taxes or local prices are context, not program parameters.
What Does “Savings and Investments Alone” Actually Mean?
It means the lender’s repayment review rests on your verified assets instead of wages. Two versions exist, and they behave very differently: one treats the assets as a pool that covers the loan outright, the other converts them into imputed monthly income.
Retirement doesn’t disqualify anyone. A retired borrower is still a borrower, and age is not an eligibility factor. What matters is whether the file shows the ability to repay, and a lender may base that on income, on assets, or on both. The rule that allows this is Regulation Z’s ability-to-repay provision, which also requires that whatever the lender relies on is verified with reliable third-party records.
Here’s the catch on “alone.” Assets alone can carry a file on the qualifier path. On the depletion path, assets alone can work too, but only when you meet the minimum-asset test, and if you also draw a pension or Social Security, that income can sit on top of the asset-derived figure. Different situations. Different math.
How Do Assets Cover the Whole Loan on the Qualifier Path?
On the asset qualifier path, the usable value of your eligible accounts must equal or exceed the entire loan amount. No employment or income is documented. Through select programs, this path reaches loans up to $4,000,000, with leverage up to 80% on a purchase and 75% on a refinance of a principal residence or second home. Each figure is subject to lender guidelines and a complete review of property type, leverage, and credit.
Credit percentages decide what counts. Across the wholesale network, brokerage accounts, certificates of deposit, money market and savings count at 100%. A 401(k) or IRA counts at 90% if you’re under 59½ and 100% at 59½ or older. Accounts combine.
The illustrative arithmetic: an $800,000 loan with $330,000 in brokerage accounts (100% = $330,000), $300,000 in a 401(k) under 59½ (90% = $270,000) and $200,000 in savings (100% = $200,000) counts $800,000 of usable assets and is reviewed on assets alone. The lender’s own calculation governs.
Other requirements are lighter than people expect, but they are real. Credit minimum is 600 on this path. Funds need 60 days of seasoning, and each qualifying account needs two months of statements. Reserves are not required at or below 75% loan-to-value; above that, the lender sets them.
This path suits a retiree who wants to buy with a mortgage but whose portfolio could nearly cover the price. It’s also the path where the borrower never has to justify income, because there’s no income test.
How Does Asset Depletion Turn a Portfolio Into Income?
Asset depletion takes usable assets, divides them by 60 months, and treats the result as monthly qualifying income. That income must then carry the full housing payment and other debts through the debt-to-income test. Nothing is sold or withdrawn. It’s a qualifying convention, not a spending plan.
The haircuts are steeper here than on the qualifier path. Cash accounts and CDs count at 100%. Securities count at 80%, private stock at 75%, retirement accounts at 70% at any age, and real-estate equity at 60%.
Run the numbers on a sample portfolio: $1,500,000 in securities (80% = $1,200,000) plus $300,000 in cash (100% = $300,000) is $1,500,000 usable. Divided by 60 months, that’s $25,000 of monthly qualifying income, which then carries the housing payment and other debts through the debt-to-income test. That’s illustration, not an offer.
Floors apply. Qualified assets must be at least the lesser of $1,000,000 or 1.25 times the loan balance, and never below $250,000 liquid when depletion is the only income source. Loans run from $125,000 to $3,500,000. Credit follows the lender’s score and loan-amount matrix. A first-time investor on this path needs a 700 score.
If a pension or Social Security also comes in, asset-derived income can supplement it, up to a 45% debt-to-income ratio, and the minimum-assets rule is waived when it supplements.
Which Assets Count, and How?
Cash and CDs are the cleanest assets on either path. Retirement accounts and securities count too, but at different percentages depending on the path, so always name the path before quoting a number.
| Asset | Qualifier path | Depletion path |
|---|---|---|
| Cash, savings, money market | 100% | 100% (cash accounts) |
| Certificates of deposit | 100% | 100% |
| Brokerage / securities | 100% | 80% |
| 401(k) or IRA | 90% under 59½; 100% at 59½+ | 70% at any age |
| Real-estate equity | Not listed | 60% |
| Private stock | Not listed | 75% |
Not eligible on the depletion path: custodial accounts, deferred compensation, escrow accounts, foreign funds, cash on hand, stock options, non-vested restricted stock units, and funds from non-regulated financial companies.
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 lender reviewing the source. Pledged or borrowed funds don’t count either.
Retirement balances are where programs differ most. Many conventional lenders treat retirement balances a borrower can’t tap without restriction as unusable, which is one reason asset-based non-QM files exist at all. In this network, a retiree under 59½ gets 90% credit on the qualifier path but 70% on the depletion path. Same account, different treatment.
Do You Have to Sell Anything, and What About the Down Payment?
No. Assets are counted, not liquidated. But the down payment and closing costs come out of the same pool, so spending them reduces what’s left to qualify.
This is the double-count problem. Say a retiree holds a portfolio that barely clears the depletion minimum. Writing a large down payment from it shrinks the usable total, and the income figure shrinks with it. Plan the down payment source first, then count what remains. On a purchase, lenders also want the down payment’s source stated and verified, consistent with the verification principle in the federal rule’s text.
Statements matter too. On the depletion path, statements must be at least 120 days old at application, plus the most recent statement within 45 days. Sale-of-business, inheritance and legal-settlement funds are excused from that seasoning. On the qualifier path it’s 60 days and two months of statements per account.
Cash-out proceeds never count as qualifying assets. Cash-out leverage on the depletion path is 60% for a principal residence, second home or investment property. The qualifier-path cash-out treatment is set by the lender and isn’t published, so don’t plan around it.
Leverage at a Glance
| Path | Purchase | Refinance |
|---|---|---|
| Qualifier, primary or second home | Up to 80% | Up to 75% |
| Depletion, primary or second home | Up to 80% | 80% rate-and-term; 60% cash-out |
| Depletion, investment property | Up to 65% | 65% rate-and-term; 60% cash-out |
All figures are through select programs, subject to underwriting.
What’s Washington-Specific Here?
Very little changes the program. The same figures apply whether the home is in Spokane, Bellingham or the Seattle area. Washington is among the 16 states where Lendmire’s consumer mortgage lending is licensed, so a Washington borrower can work with the brokerage directly.
What does change is planning. Washington is a community property state, which can affect how a spouse’s assets and a co-borrower are treated. That’s a question for an attorney, not a loan officer. The same goes for how a portfolio sale would be taxed. Tax treatment varies; consult a qualified professional.
Should You Sell Investments Instead?
It depends on what you give up. Selling to buy with cash removes the mortgage but also removes the portfolio’s growth and liquidity. Borrowing against your qualifying position keeps the portfolio intact but adds a monthly obligation that you carry through every market cycle.
Honestly, this is a genuine toss-up for many retirees. A large, unrealized gain makes liquidation costly. A small portfolio relative to the home price makes borrowing risky. If the payment would require meaningful withdrawals in a down market, cash may be the calmer choice. If the portfolio is large and the loan is modest against it, keeping the assets invested and borrowing against them often makes more sense.
Remember that the lender qualifies you at application. Markets can fall afterward, and the payment doesn’t shrink with them. Stress-test your own plan against a 20% drawdown before you commit.
What Are Your Other Options?
| Option | Reviewed on | Main tradeoff |
|---|---|---|
| Asset qualifier | Assets cover the loan | Needs large, seasoned balances |
| Asset depletion | Assets converted to income | Haircuts shrink usable value |
| Conventional | Pension, Social Security, distributions | Income must be documented and continue |
| Bank statement | Deposits | For borrowers who document income via deposits |
| DSCR (rental only) | Property rent | Business-purpose investment only |
If the purchase is a rental, the picture changes. DSCR loans are designed for non-owner-occupied investment properties, and because they’re business-purpose investor loans, they’re reviewed differently from a standard owner-occupied mortgage. The loan is reviewed primarily on property-level rental income covering the payment, subject to lender guidelines. Retirement status isn’t the test. Rent against the payment is.
Some retirees also use the depletion path for investment property (65% on a purchase), which adds personal debt-to-income to the picture.
Is This Right for You? A Quick Self-Screen
Asset-based qualification tends to fit when most of these are true:
- Your balances are large and your documented income isn’t.
- Your assets sit in regulated accounts you can show on statements.
- Your credit clears the program floor (600 on the qualifier path, the lender’s matrix on depletion).
- You can fund the down payment without gutting the qualifying pool.
- You can live with a monthly payment through a market downturn.
It tends to fit poorly if most of the wealth is in crypto, collectibles or foreign accounts, or if the portfolio is thin against the loan. In that case, a conventional loan using documented pension and Social Security income may be the better lane.
Across the wholesale network, the files that stall usually aren’t short on money. They stall on paperwork: statements that don’t show ownership, unexplained large deposits, and accounts opened too recently. Gather two or three months of statements for every account before talking to any lender.
Key Terms Defined
Asset qualifier: a path where eligible assets, after credit percentages, equal or exceed the whole loan and no income is documented.
Asset depletion: a path that divides usable assets by 60 months to produce monthly qualifying income.
Haircut: the share of an account’s balance a program refuses to count.
Seasoning: the length of time funds must sit in an account before they count.
Debt-to-income (DTI): monthly debts divided by monthly qualifying income.
Non-QM: a mortgage that follows lender-specific rules instead of standard agency guidelines.
What’s the Process, Step by Step?
1. Decide the purpose: primary home, second home or rental.
2. Pick the path. Assets cover the loan, or assets become income.
3. Collect statements for every account, with the seasoning each path requires.
4. Pull your credit and check it against the program floor.
5. Share the file with a broker who can compare lenders’ overlays.
6. Expect the lender to verify everything it relies on, with documents specific to you.
Qualification is subject to underwriting. This is a consumer mortgage, so standard consumer disclosures apply.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use my IRA or 401(k) without withdrawing from it?
Yes. Retirement balances count as assets without being drawn down. On the qualifier path they count at 90% under 59½ and 100% at 59½ or older. On the depletion path they count at 70% at any age. Nothing is sold or withdrawn to qualify.
Does Social Security or a pension still help?
Yes. On the depletion path, asset-derived income can supplement documented income up to a 45% debt-to-income ratio, and the minimum-assets rule is waived when it supplements. Pensions and benefits add on top of the asset figure. Lenders generally treat income that doesn’t expire more kindly than income that might.
Can I refinance with assets alone?
Yes, through select programs. On the qualifier path, leverage is up to 75% on a refinance. On the depletion path, it’s up to 80% for a rate-and-term refinance of a primary or second home and 60% on a cash-out.
Does my crypto count?
Not directly. Cryptocurrency isn’t published as an eligible asset on either path. The documented route is converting it into a seasoned cash balance in a regulated account, with the lender reviewing the source of funds.
Does a retiree have to be a certain age?
No. Retirement status and age aren’t eligibility tests. Age matters only for how retirement accounts are counted on the qualifier path, where 59½ is the line between 90% and 100% credit.
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. For current guidelines and terms, see Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage programs. For a Washington retiree with a big portfolio and little paycheck, the real decision usually isn’t whether a path exists, but whether to cover the loan with assets or turn them into income.
Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage in Washington page presents the program for Washington borrowers.
About Lendmire
Lendmire, NMLS# 2371349, is a mortgage brokerage with consumer lending licenses in 16 states. Bank statement, P&L-only, 1099-only and asset-based mortgages are arranged through wholesale lending partners for borrowers whose traditional personal-income documentation understates their income, and each application is reviewed individually by the lender. Scotsman Guide named Lendmire a Top Mortgage Workplace in both 2025 and 2026.
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References
This article is part of Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program — full qualification details, guidelines, and scenarios live on the program page.
Related reading: How to Document a Washington Asset Qualifier Mortgage Without an Employer · How Snowbirds Get a Mortgage on a Winter Home Without Income · Can a Virginia Retiree Get a Mortgage on Savings and Investments Alone?
Guides: Asset-Based Mortgage in Washington
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
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Legal disclosures. Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) is a state-licensed mortgage brokerage that arranges financing through wholesale lender relationships. Lendmire is not a direct lender, depository institution, or registered financial advisor. The discussion above is general informational content about real estate financing — it is not financial, legal, or tax advice, and readers should consult licensed professionals for guidance on their individual circumstances. Loan inquiries are subject to lender underwriting; this article does not represent a commitment to lend. Loan terms, rates, and qualification standards vary by borrower, property, and state, and are subject to change at any time. Equal Housing Opportunity. NMLS Consumer Access: nmlsconsumeraccess.org.