The Financial Tool Most High-Earning Women in Perimenopause Have Never Heard Of
In the Stop Paying the Care Tax Workshop, we calculate the Care Costs most women don’t know — and you leave with five specific moves to start lowering what you owe.
July 11. 10 AM ET. Ten spots. Live on Zoom.
If you have an investment account and you're in perimenopause, this is the article I needed someone to write for me ten years ago.
The health bills, the income you lost at work, the savings you couldn't build — they all land in the same season. Most women handle it the same three ways: drain savings, charge the card, sell investments. Every one of those moves costs you something.
But there is a fourth option. And most women have never heard of it.
It’s called an SBLOC — a securities-backed line of credit. Big term. Simple idea.
It lets you borrow money against your investment account without selling a single stock or fund. Your investments stay in place. They keep growing. You get the cash you need, often within a week. And you don’t pay a thing until you actually use it.
Fidelity has it. Charles Schwab has it. Most big investment firms do. The women who need it most are almost always the last ones to find out it exists.
WHAT AN SBLOC IS — IN PLAIN ENGLISH
Think of it like borrowing against your house. Except it’s your investments.
You know how some people take out a loan against the value of their home? This works the same way — except instead of your house, you’re using your investment account.
You tell the lender: here’s my account, I want to borrow against it. They look at what’s in it and give you a credit line — kind of like a credit card, but with much better terms. You take out what you need. You pay interest only on the amount you borrowed. You pay it back when you’re ready. Then you can borrow again if you need to.
A few things worth knowing:
The interest rate moves up and down over time. It’s tied to something called the prime rate, which was 6.75% at the end of 2025. That’s almost always lower than what a credit card charges. At most major lenders, there are zero fees to open it — no application fee, no annual fee, nothing. You only pay when you borrow.
A common setup is this: if you have $400,000 in your account, you might be able to borrow up to $200,000. It depends on what kinds of investments you hold.
One important thing: your 401(k) and IRA accounts can’t be used for this. This only works with a regular taxable brokerage account — the kind that isn’t a retirement account. Your retirement savings stay completely separate and protected.
HOW IT HELPS WITH THE MENOPAUSE TAX™
Care Costs. Career Costs. Compounding Costs.
Your Care Costs. The bills from perimenopause care keep coming whether you’re ready or not. Hormone therapy. Specialist visits. Sleep studies. Physical therapy. And then on top of that, maybe a parent who needs help. These expenses don’t care about your budget.
An SBLOC means you don’t have to sell your investments to cover them. Say you have $300,000 in your account and $40,000 in gains. If you sell to get cash, you owe taxes on those gains. If you borrow instead, you get the money you need — and your investments stay put, growing.
Your Career Costs. Some women in perimenopause step back from work. They leave a job that was wearing them down. They take time to figure out what’s next. They start their own business. That’s real, and it’s valid. But it also creates a gap in income.
An SBLOC can bridge that gap. It gives you breathing room without forcing you to cash out your investments at a bad time. And if you’re starting something new? Borrowing at 7% is a whole different story than a business credit card charging 22%.
Your Compounding Costs. This one is the quiet one. Every dollar you put on a credit card during this season charges you interest. Every share you sell to pay a bill is one that stops growing for you. Over years, that adds up to real money left on the table.
Borrowing against your investments instead keeps your portfolio in the market and keeps the growth going. The debt costs money too — but at a much lower rate, and without pulling you out of your long-term plan.
THE RISKS — READ THIS BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING
This is the part most people skip. Don’t.
Here’s what you need to understand: your credit line is not fixed. The lender checks the value of your account every single day. If the market drops and your investments lose value, your credit line shrinks with them. If they fall below a certain level, the lender sends you what’s called a maintenance call.
You’ll usually have two to three days to respond. Your choices: put more money into the account, pay back some of what you borrowed, or do nothing. If you do nothing, the lender can sell your investments to cover themselves. They pick which ones. You don’t get a vote. And yes — most lenders put it in writing that they can do this without giving you any notice at all.
That is a real risk. Say it out loud so it lands.
Here’s the good news: it’s a manageable risk if you’re careful. Don’t borrow anywhere close to your maximum limit. Have a plan to pay it back before you use a dollar of it. Know where the money is coming from — a bonus, a tax refund, a new contract.
This tool is not right for you if your investment account is the only thing standing between you and retirement. It’s not right if most of your money is tied up in one company’s stock. It’s not right if you have no regular income coming in to cover the monthly interest.
The law requires that any broker who suggests this product to you must look at your whole financial picture first. That includes how much you’re counting on this money for retirement. If your advisor is pushing this without that conversation happening? Ask them why.
IS THIS FOR YOU?
Only you can answer that. But here’s what the right fit looks like.
You have at least $150,000 to $200,000 in a taxable brokerage account — not your 401(k), not your IRA. You’re still earning income and can afford to pay monthly interest without it hurting. You have a specific expense you can’t cover with cash right now. Your investments are spread out across different things, not all sitting in one stock. And you have a real plan to pay back what you borrow within one to two years.
You have been building something. For years. It’s sitting right there. It can work for you now — not just when you retire.
Here’s your next move. Log in to your brokerage account today — whether that’s Fidelity, Schwab, or wherever your account lives. Ask two questions: Do I qualify for a securities-backed line of credit? What’s the loan-to-value ratio on my portfolio?
That’s it. Fifteen minutes. No commitment. Just knowing the option is there changes what’s possible for you.
The Menopause Tax™ is real. The tools to fight it are real too. The only problem is that nobody put them in the same room until now.