A Fiscal Footnotes Guide

Your Home, Your Legacy

When to sell, when to hold, and how to hand it down. The real math behind the biggest asset most families own.

by David Schaeffer and Kyle Jacobs

"Should I Sell My House?" Is Really Three Questions.

A paid-off home feels like the one thing you don't have to worry about. That is exactly why most people never plan for it. Then a neighbor's warning over the fence freezes the whole decision, with no math behind it.

This guide walks through the real arithmetic the way David and Kyle walk through it on the show. No pressure. No products. Because when someone asks "should I sell my house in retirement," they are really asking three different questions, and most people only worry about the first one.

  • The tax on the sale, and the Section 121 exclusion that the warning over the fence always leaves out
  • The Medicare surprise: how a one-year gain can quietly raise your premiums through IRMAA, two years later
  • The legacy question: step-up in basis, titling, and handing the home down cleanly instead of by accident
  • Right-sizing, not downsizing: deciding on purpose, whether that means selling or staying put
  • Real, anonymized client stories, plus the numbers checked against IRS, SSA, and Medicare sources
Your Home, Your Legacy guide cover by David Schaeffer and Kyle Jacobs

Context Creates Clarity

The Tax on the Sale

The Section 121 exclusion can shelter up to $500,000 of gain for a married couple, $250,000 single. We put the real arithmetic on the page, the part the warning over the fence always leaves out.

The Medicare Surprise

A one-year gain can push your income across an IRMAA line and raise your Medicare premiums two years later. Almost nobody sees it coming. We show you how to see it in time to plan.

How to Hand It Down

Step-up in basis, how the home is titled, trust versus will. Whether your family inherits cleanly or inherits a mess comes down to decisions you make now, not later.

Right-Sizing, Not Downsizing

Sometimes selling is the right answer. Sometimes staying put on purpose is. The only wrong answer is drifting into one of them by accident. This guide helps you decide.

Get the Full Guide

Enter your email below and we'll give you immediate access to the complete guide with the real capital gains math, the IRMAA look-back tables, the step-up-in-basis comparison, and David and Kyle's plain-English walk-through.

About 12 to 14 minutes to read. We'll also send a quick check-in to hear what you thought.

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Want to Run Your Own Numbers Before You Decide?

David, Kyle, and the ARA team model the sell, hold, and hand-it-down options with real numbers every week, before anyone signs a listing agreement. Your first conversation is at no cost to you.

Book Your No-Cost Consultation

Thinking about how the home passes to your family? Our BeneficiaryBox process helps you organize the titling, the trust question, and the step-up so your heirs inherit cleanly, not into a mess.

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