Mortgage #5 and beyond

[Ron Todd]

Hi BP,

I'm looking ahead at options for mortgage #5 and I was curious for the 6 months piti that you need on hand if that has to be cash or could it be held in a retirement account like a roth IRA or TSP. For example, If I needed 50k in piti reserves, would the ability to take a 50k loan from my TSP suffice or would I need that money to actually be in a checking/saving account? Also looking at for any other experiences or tips with mortgage 5 and beyond.

[Alexander Felice]

you can use retirement funds as reserves as long as you have the ability to borrow or withdraw against it. you'll have to provide the account guidelines from the holding company to show what access you have. 

for example my USAA IRA allows me to borrow like 50% max (think) so they will allow 50% to go towards my reserves.