Home equity is one of the most overlooked sources of financial stability. Today, 40.3% of U.S. homeowners are mortgage-free, and that number keeps rising. That statistic is not just interesting trivia. It is a clear signal of how much wealth longtime homeowners have quietly built and what kind of leverage many people already have without realizing it. Even if you still have a mortgage, this shift offers a useful benchmark for understanding where you stand […]