Tap into the value of your portfolio without cashing out your investments

Nationwide Smart Credit℠ is a securities-backed line of credit. It uses your non-retirement assets as collateral for access to capital. Nationwide Smart Credit lets you borrow against the value of your portfolio without disrupting the investment strategy that you and your financial professional have carefully developed. It helps keep your portfolio intact and in the market, while avoiding capital gains taxes when you need access to cash.1

What can I do with Nationwide Smart Credit?

Because you can use Nationwide Smart Credit to fund anything except buying additional securities or paying back an existing margin loan, the possibilities are nearly endless:

Family

  • College expenses
  • Weddings
  • Gifts
  • Family emergencies

Personal

  • Medical expenses
  • Personal goals
  • Distributions (during a down market)
  • Charitable contributions

Real estate

  • Home renovation
  • Real estate purchase
  • Bridge loan

Lifestyle

  • Car/boat/RV
  • Vacations
  • Luxury items
  • Cash

Financial

  • Tax payment
  • Debt consolidation
  • IRA conversions3

Other

Meet Bill and Amy

Man and woman working together in the kitchen.

Bill and Amy are building a vacation house for $1 million. They have $4 million in their non-retirement brokerage account, and they’re trying to decide whether it makes sense to liquidate a portion of their portfolio to fund the construction. They expect to need the funds until construction is finished in a year, at which point it will be easier for them to obtain a regular mortgage.

They decide to talk with their financial professional about their options. Based on what Bill and Amy share, their financial professional suggests comparing the cost of liquidating assets with a securities-backed line of credit such as Nationwide Smart Credit. Nationwide Smart Credit can be a benefit when the cost of liquidation is greater than the cost of borrowing.

Cost of liquidating: $223,116 SBLOC cost of financing: $56,500
Liquidity need: $1 million Liquidity need: $1 million
Interest expense: $0 Interest expense: $56,500
Capital gains: $672,959 Capital gains: $0
Capital gains tax: $126,516 Capital gains tax: $0
Return opportunity cost: $96,600 Return opportunity cost: $0
Funding efficiency: 77.7% Funding efficiency: 94.4%

SBL savings: $166,616

The conclusion is obvious: Using an SBLOC to fund the vacation home would be a much more efficient financing mechanism. 

For illustrative purposes only. The cost of liquidation includes any tax liability resulting from the liquidation plus the opportunity cost of lost potential future market returns. The cost of borrowing includes SBL loan interest. The chart assumes the following: Bill and Amy have had their money invested in an S&P 500® Index fund for approximately 9 years, which works out to an implied cost basis of $327,041 on the $1 million they would potentially liquidate; that is, they would owe capital gains tax on the amount of appreciation, or $672,959. Based on their holding period of 9 years, tax filing status of married filing jointly and adjusted gross income of $585,000, their long-term capital gains tax rate would be 18.8%. This is composed of a 15% long-term capital gains tax rate plus an additional 3.8% net investment income tax rate. This works out to be a $126,516 tax liability. In terms of the opportunity cost of lost market returns, let’s say you expect the market to return 10.66% per year, which is what the S&P has averaged since 1969. Assuming a 1% investment management fee for the financial professional, the return opportunity cost works out to $96,600 for 1 year. So the total cost of liquidation would be $223,116. Option 2 shows that the cost of borrowing has been quoted at the 1-month SOFR of 3.65% plus a margin of 2.00%, which yields a total interest rate of 5.65% (5.65% APR) and total interest expense of $56,500 for one year. The interest rate above is as of April 28, 2026 and is a variable rate.

Benefits of Nationwide Smart Credit

Fast access to cash: Access to cash in hours or days, not weeks like with other solutions.

Convenience: You have access to your account 24/7 through an online portal that allows you to perform many tasks easily and quickly. These include making payments, requesting draws and reviewing your line of credit information anytime you’d like.

No setup or annual fees: Line sizes range from $26,000 to $60 million, and no initial draw is required, so you can open a  line risk-free and have it waiting for when a need arises. Once the line is in place, any future draw must be at least $1,000.

Attractive interest rates: Because your portfolio is used as collateral, rates are often lower than with other lending options. Variable and fixed rate options are available.

Flexibility: Nationwide Smart Credit can be used for almost any liquidity need. Plus, there is no rigid repayment schedule. Because we are a non-bank lender, the funds are yours to use as you wish — aside from buying additional securities. 

Long-term investment strategy stays intact: By holding on to your assets rather than liquidating them, you can continue to receive benefits such as dividends, interest and appreciation.

Product highlights
Expand all
  • The line amount is a percentage of the value of the eligible securities in the investment account; however, 100% of the account must be pledged
  • The minimum line of credit is $26,000 and the maximum is $60 million
  • There's no minimum initial draw, and subsequent draws have a low minimum of $25,000 for fixed interest rate draws and $1,000 for variable rate draws
  • Funds may be accessed via automated clearinghouse (ACH) or wire transfer; wire transfers require a $10,000 minimum
  • There are no standard draws or repayment period
  • Interest payments are due monthly based on the 1-Month Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR)2 plus a margin; fixed rates are based on the current rate and term chosen
  • Payments can be made via ACH, check or added to the existing line balance (depending on the capacity available)
  • No application fees
  • No maintenance fees
  • No prepayment fees
  • No wire fees
  • Common stocks/American depositary receipts (ADRs) traded on the Nasdaq or NYSE
  • Government/municipal securities
  • Corporate bonds
  • Mutual funds
  • Cash/certificates of deposit (must be FDIC insured)
  • Unit-traded funds
  • Exchange-traded funds
  • Non-traditional mutual funds

Things to consider

The Nationwide Smart Credit line carries risks. If the value of your portfolio falls below a certain level, you may be required to provide additional securities as collateral or cash to immediately pay down part of the line. If that’s not possible, some investments may be liquidated, resulting in potential tax consequences.1

The risks include, but are not limited to, the fact that the lender may:

  • Suspend and/or terminate your line of credit
  • Declare all indebtedness immediately due and payable
  • Sell any collateral in order to maintain the line-to-value requirement
  • Require additional collateral from you in order to meet the line-to-value requirement
  • Require you to pay down the principal in order to meet the line-to-value requirement
Nationwide® is here to help.
To learn more about securities-backed lending, visit nationwide.com/sbl

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For illustrative purposes only. The cost of liquidation includes any tax liability resulting from the liquidation plus the opportunity cost of lost potential future market returns. The cost of borrowing includes SBL loan interest. The chart assumes the following: Bill and Amy have had their money invested in an S&P 500® Index fund for approximately 9 years, which works out to an implied cost basis of $327,041 on the $1 million they would potentially liquidate; that is, they would owe capital gains tax on the amount of appreciation, or $672,959. Based on their holding period of 9 years, tax filing status of married filing jointly and adjusted gross income of $585,000, their long-term capital gains tax rate would be 18.8%. This is composed of a 15% long-term capital gains tax rate plus an additional 3.8% net investment income tax rate. This works out to be a $126,516 tax liability. In terms of the opportunity cost of lost market returns, let’s say you expect the market to return 10.66% per year, which is what the S&P has averaged since 1969. Assuming a 1% investment management fee for the financial professional, the return opportunity cost works out to $96,600 for 1 year. So the total cost of liquidation would be $223,116. Option 2 shows that the cost of borrowing has been quoted at the 1-month SOFR of 3.65% plus a margin of 2.00%, which yields a total interest rate of 5.65% (5.65% APR) and total interest expense of $56,500 for one year. The interest rate above is as of April 28, 2026 and is a variable rate.

[1] Please consult your tax advisor for any tax implications.
[2] The Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) is an interest rate benchmark that’s a broad measure of the cost of borrowing cash overnight collateralized by U.S. Treasury securities. The SOFR is the recommended alternative to the LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) in the United States. It is based on observable transactions, whereas the LIBOR is based largely on estimated borrowing rates. The 1-Month Term SOFR rates can be found at bit.ly/SOFR-CME.
[3] A securities-backed line of credit (SBLOC) can help with an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) conversion by providing outside cash to pay the conversion tax without forcing you to sell investments or withdraw extra funds from your retirement account.

Representatives do not give legal or tax advice. An attorney or tax advisor should be consulted for answers to specific questions.

The purpose of a Nationwide Smart Credit line of credit must be for personal, family or household purposes and not for securities investments or to purchase or carry margin securities, which include: (1) stocks that are registered on a national securities exchange, or any over-the-counter security designated for trading in the national market system; (2) debt securities (bonds) that are convertible into margin stock; and (3) shares of most mutual funds.

California: Loans made or arranged pursuant to a California Lenders Law License. Delaware: Nationwide SBL is licensed by the Delaware State Bank CCL commissioner to engage in business in this State under license number 035414, expires 12/31/2026. Maryland: License Number 1804109. Missouri: Consumer Credit Loan Company registered by the Missouri Division of Finance, license number 367-27-8932. Montana: Montana residents, please click here for important fee and inability-to-pay disclosure statements. Consumer Loan Company License number 1804109. Oregon: License number 1804109. Rhode Island: Rhode Island Licensed Lender. Washington: License number CL-1804109. Click here for state license information and rate and fee disclosures.

Not available in Mississippi and Nevada.

Nationwide, the Nationwide N and Eagle, Nationwide Smart Credit and Nationwide is On Your Side are service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.

Nationwide SBL, LLC dba Nationwide Smart Credit (NMLS): 1804109 NMLS Consumer Access: https://www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org/
NFW-11097AO.7