In most personal finance advice books, the idea of a rainy-day fund is promoted. Books of that kind usually promote the need to build a cash fund equal to 3 - 6 months of income. In keeping with that information, I used to keep $10K in a money-market account that was making about 1% a year, just in case.

I decided to keep a $20K HELOC, instead. The problem is that if I were to need the money, I would incur a debt instead of having the cash available and not having to take on debt.

So, I'm not certain about the value of a HELOC except as a source of cash in excess of cash on hand if a really good investment opportunity was to pop up.

Still, because I am within three years of early retirement, I am out of the stock market and in cash or equivalents. So, I have the liquidity if the right opportunity presented itself.

The thing is, I planned my retirement based on that same $1M threshold, and I am right where I should be: so I don't really need any other opportunity.

So, what is the value in the liquidity of a HELOC, even if it costs almost nothing?