WKBT March 9, 2021 8:05 AM Carla Fried - Forbes Advisor Posted: Updated: March 11, 2021 5:50 AM If you’ve taken a hard look at your retirement plan and aren’t entirely confident that you’ll be able to generate the income you need, it may be time to add your home equity to the mix. There’s more than one way to tap home equity to support your retirement, using options like a home equity loan, home equity line of credit (HELOC) or a reverse mortgage. What Is Home Equity? Home equity is the amount of ownership you have in your home. You can calculate your home equity by determining your home’s market value and subtracting your outstanding mortgage balance (plus any other liabilities, like a home equity loan). If you have $100,000 left on your mortgage and the appraised market value of your home is $400,000, your home equity equals $300,000.