The Quick Read: Yes, through select asset-based programs, a retiree can qualify with no traditional personal-income documentation, pay stubs or employment verification, because the lender either counts your assets against the whole loan or converts them into a monthly qualifying income, subject to underwriting. The file still gets fully underwritten, and your statements carry the weight a paycheck normally would.
- Path one, asset qualifier: your eligible assets must equal or exceed the entire loan, and no income is documented.
- Path two, asset depletion: usable assets divided by 60 months become qualifying income that must carry the housing payment and other debts.
- You pick one path per file. The two use different leverage limits and different asset percentages.
- Nothing gets sold or withdrawn. The math is a qualifying convention, and you keep the portfolio.
- Montana has no effect on the figures. The program numbers are the same in every state where it is offered, and Montana is one of 16 states where Lendmire’s consumer mortgage lending is licensed.
What Does “On Savings and Investments Alone” Really Mean?
It means the lender looks at what you own instead of what you earn. Your age and retirement status are not the issue. A retiree with a large portfolio and little taxable income looks weak to a paycheck-based underwriter and strong to an asset-based one.
Lendmire is a mortgage broker. It places these files through select lenders in its wholesale network, and the lender underwrites and approves. Across that network, the asset-based mortgage program splits into the two paths above. The asset-based mortgage program fits households that live on a portfolio: retirees, people who sold a business, and people who received an inheritance or settlement.
Consider a retired couple in Bozeman with a seven-figure brokerage account and a modest pension. Their tax return shows little income. Their statements show a lot of money. Asset-based qualifying reads the statements.
Which of the Two Paths Fits You?
Pick the asset qualifier path if your usable assets can cover the whole loan. Pick asset depletion if they cannot, but are large enough to produce qualifying income. The table shows how they differ, and every figure is subject to underwriting through select programs.
| Factor | Asset qualifier | Asset depletion |
|---|---|---|
| What it tests | Assets cover the entire loan | Assets become monthly income |
| Income documented | None | Derived from assets |
| Debt-to-income test | Not applied; repayment review rests on assets | Applied to derived income |
| Max leverage, purchase | 80% (primary or second home) | 80% (primary or second home) |
| Max leverage, refinance | 75% (primary or second home) | 80% rate-and-term, 60% cash-out |
| Loan amounts | Up to $4,000,000 | $125,000 to $3,500,000 |
| Credit | 600 minimum score | The lender’s matrix |
Cash-out proceeds never count as qualifying assets on the depletion path. Whether the qualifier path allows cash-out, and at what leverage, is set by the lender and not published, so treat it as a question for your file.
Which path suits you is mostly arithmetic. A retiree with $1,000,000 in assets and a $500,000 loan has plenty of cover for the qualifier path. A retiree with $2,000,000 in assets who wants a $2,000,000 loan does not. That second borrower looks at depletion, where the asset test is lower than the loan balance.
How Do Lenders Count Each Asset?
Lenders count only a share of each balance, and the share depends on the account type and the path. Cash counts fully. Securities and retirement accounts count for less on the depletion path. Mixing the two tables up is the most common planning error.
Asset qualifier path, share of balance that counts:
| Account | Credit |
|---|---|
| Brokerage, CDs, money market, savings | 100% |
| 401(k) and IRA, under age 59½ | 90% |
| 401(k) and IRA, age 59½ or older | 100% |
Accounts combine. A modeled example: 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. That is reviewed on assets alone, subject to underwriting.
Asset depletion path, share of balance that counts:
| Account | Credit |
|---|---|
| Cash accounts and CDs | 100% |
| Securities | 80% |
| Private stock | 75% |
| Retirement accounts, any age | 70% |
| Real-estate equity | 60% |
A modeled example: $1,500,000 in securities (80% = $1,200,000) plus $300,000 in cash (100% = $300,000) is $1,500,000 usable. Divide by 60 months and you get $25,000 of monthly qualifying income. That income then carries the housing payment and your other debts through the debt-to-income test. The lender’s own calculation governs.
Some assets do not count on the depletion path at all: 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.
What About Crypto, Gold and Other Holdings?
They are not published as eligible on either path. Cryptocurrency, precious metals, collectibles, business accounts beyond your ownership share, and pledged or borrowed funds all fall here. Never plan around them counting at a percentage.
The documented route is to convert them to cash and let the money sit in a regulated account. The lender then reviews the source. That takes planning, and it interacts with seasoning, covered next.
What Documents and Seasoning Does the Lender Want?
Both paths document the assets, even though neither documents employment. “No tax returns, pay stubs or employment verification” never means no paperwork. Expect statements, credit, an appraisal, ID and an explanation for any large transfer.
Qualifier path: funds must be seasoned 60 days, with two months of statements for each qualifying account. Depletion path: statements must be at least 120 days old at application, plus the most recent statement within 45 days. Funds from the sale of a business, an inheritance or a legal settlement are excused from that seasoning on the depletion path.
Here is a short checklist:
- Two months of statements for every account you want counted.
- A written source for any deposit that is not obviously your own money moving between accounts.
- A credit report you have looked at before the lender does.
- Entity or trust paperwork if title will not be in your personal name.
- A realistic list of which accounts are eligible and which are not.
Credit still matters. The qualifier path publishes a 600 minimum score. The depletion path follows the lender’s score and loan-amount matrix. Housing history is reviewed at 0x30x12, and one 30-day late in the last twelve months is considered case by case. Multiple bankruptcies are not eligible. On the depletion path a housing event needs four years of seasoning.
Do You Have to Sell or Withdraw Anything?
No. Asset depletion is a qualifying convention, not a spending plan. The lender divides usable assets by 60 months to produce a number for the debt-to-income test, and you keep the account. Nothing is liquidated at closing beyond the funds you choose to bring.
That matters most for retirees with large embedded gains. Selling to pay cash can trigger a tax bill and shrink the portfolio that funds your living costs. Borrowing instead keeps the portfolio working. The trade-off is that you carry a loan payment, and the payment has to fit your actual cash flow, not just the lender’s math.
Tax treatment varies; consult a qualified professional before relying on any deduction or assumption.
How Do Retirement Accounts and Age 59½ Work?
Age changes the credit on the qualifier path. A 401(k) or IRA counts at 90% under age 59½ and 100% at 59½ or older. On the depletion path, retirement accounts count at 70% at any age.
Early retirees feel this most. A 56-year-old with most of the net worth in a 401(k) may qualify on the qualifier path at a 90% credit, while the depletion path would haircut the same balance to 70%. Run both before you choose.
What If You Also Draw Social Security or a Pension?
On the depletion path, documented income can add to the asset-derived income. Asset income may supplement documented income up to a 45% debt-to-income ratio. When it supplements, the minimum-assets rule is waived.
The qualifier path works differently. It documents no income, so a pension does not raise your qualifying power. It simply does not hurt. If your pension is small and your portfolio is large, the qualifier path is usually cleaner.
What Does Depletion Require at Minimum?
Qualified assets must total at least the lesser of $1,000,000 or 1.25 times the loan balance, and never below $250,000 liquid when asset depletion is your only income source. Those are floors, not offers.
Leverage on the depletion path depends on the property. On a principal residence or second home, the ceiling is 80% on a purchase or rate-and-term refinance and 60% on a cash-out refinance. On an investment property, it is 65% on a purchase or rate-and-term refinance and 60% on a cash-out. A first-time investor on the depletion path needs a 700 score.
What Does This Look Like in Montana?
The program figures do not change at the state line. The context does. Montana draws out-of-state retirees, second-home buyers and recreational-property shoppers, and many of them hold wealth in accounts back home rather than in local income.
Two practical notes. First, a ranch parcel, acreage or a remote cabin often carries a tighter appraisal and lender review than a subdivision house, so choose the property with that in mind. Second, if you are selling a house elsewhere to fund the purchase, those proceeds usually sit in a regulated account long enough to be counted. Timing the sale around seasoning is easier than fixing it later.
Why Do Wealthy Retirees Still Get Declined?
Usually the problem is the file, not the net worth. Based on how these files tend to run across Lendmire’s network, five issues repeat:
- Recently moved money. A balance that appeared last month without a paper trail has not seasoned.
- Ineligible account types. Foreign funds, stock options and custodial accounts do not count on the depletion path.
- Wrong path. A borrower who needs the qualifier path’s coverage but plans on depletion’s haircuts finds the math falls short.
- Weak credit. Large balances do not offset a recent housing event or multiple bankruptcies.
- Thin liquid cushion. Depletion needs qualified assets and a minimum of $250,000 liquid when it is your only income source.
None of these is permanent. Most fix with time and clean statements.
Keep the Portfolio or Pay Cash?
Pay cash if you value having no payment and your portfolio would still cover living costs. Borrow if selling would trigger meaningful gains, shrink your income-producing base or leave you thin on liquidity.
This is a genuine toss-up for many retirees. Cash is simple. A loan against a large portfolio keeps flexibility but adds an obligation. The stronger play often depends on how much of the portfolio the purchase would consume, and a lower share points toward paying cash while a higher share points toward borrowing.
What Other Routes Exist?
Other options exist, and each fits a different borrower. Full-documentation conventional and jumbo loans fit retirees who show steady retirement income on paper, and those programs set their own rules. Bank statement loans fit borrowers who document income through deposits, which is rarely a retiree’s profile. A reverse mortgage is its own product with its own rules.
For a rental property rather than a home, the structure changes. 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. They qualify primarily on property-level rental income covering the payment, subject to lender guidelines. Your savings then serve as down payment and reserves rather than income.
The federal rules draw the line in a specific place. The CFPB’s text on exempt transactions treats credit to buy a non-owner-occupied rental as business purpose. It also says that if you expect to occupy the property more than 14 days in the coming year, it is not treated as non-owner-occupied. A retiree who plans to winter in the “rental” can lose that treatment. By contrast, an owner-occupied home is a consumer loan, and the CFPB’s ability-to-repay guide frames repayment review around a borrower’s income and debts. That is why asset depletion converts assets into income.
Who Is This Not For?
Skip asset-based qualifying if your usable assets are modest, if you plan to lean on ineligible holdings, or if your credit is shaky. Skip it also if a standard loan fits and the paperwork does not bother you. Asset-based programs exist for income-light, cash-heavy files. If you have steady documented income, a conventional route may be simpler.
Key Terms Defined
Asset qualifier path: a way to qualify where eligible assets must equal or exceed the whole loan.
Asset depletion path: a way to qualify where usable assets divided by 60 months become monthly income.
Haircut: the share of an account’s balance a lender does not count.
Seasoning: how long funds must sit in your accounts before they count.
Debt-to-income: your monthly debts divided by your monthly income.
Business-purpose loan: a loan taken to buy or run a rental or other business asset.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I qualify if I have no income at all?
On the qualifier path, yes. The file documents assets, not income, and your eligible assets must equal or exceed the loan. On the depletion path, your assets generate the income. Either way the file is fully underwritten, with a credit review and appraisal, subject to lender guidelines.
Does my 401(k) count?
It does, at a reduced share. On the qualifier path it counts at 90% under age 59½ and 100% after. On the depletion path it counts at 70% at any age. You are not required to withdraw from it.
How big a loan can I get?
Up to $4,000,000 on the qualifier path and $125,000 to $3,500,000 on the depletion path, through select programs and subject to underwriting. Your assets, credit and the property set the real number.
Can I buy a second home or a rental this way?
A second home follows the same leverage as a primary residence. On the depletion path, an investment property is capped at 65% on a purchase or rate-and-term refinance and 60% on a cash-out. For a pure rental, many borrowers instead use a DSCR loan, which looks at the property’s rent.
Will the lender make me sell investments?
No. The depletion math is a qualifying convention, and you keep the assets. The only funds you spend are the down payment and closing costs you choose to bring.
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.
Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage in Montana page presents the program for Montana borrowers.
About Lendmire
Lendmire — NMLS# 2371349 — is a mortgage broker that arranges bank statement, P&L-only, 1099-only and asset-based home financing in 16 states through wholesale lenders, on primary residences, second homes and investment properties. Every option is subject to the lender’s guidelines and full underwriting. 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.
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References
1. CFPB, Regulation Z § 1026.3, Exempt transactions
2. CFPB, Ability-to-Repay and Qualified Mortgage Rule Compliance Guide
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 Founders Who Pay Themselves Little Get a Mortgage · Can You Get a Mortgage in Virginia With No Income but a Lot of Savings? · Can You Get an Asset Qualifier Mortgage With a Co-Signer?
Guides: Asset-Based Mortgage in Montana
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.