Soft body Armor and a 12G shotgun are the best bang for your buck for home defense IMHO

Focusing strictly on preparing for home defense, I believe the best combo to keep yourself and your loved ones safe from direct physical harm are a 12 Guage Pump Shotgun and a set of Soft Body Armor.
Let me explain why.

Shotgun: Objectively the 12 guage pump shotgun is the most tried and tested firearm of the modern world. In terms of simplicity, reliability, and close range effective stopping power, nothing comes close for the same amount of money. When your door is being kicked in at 3am and you are half awake with adrenaline making your hands shake, you want something that is 1- simple to use, 2- stops a threat as fast as possible, and 3- Is reliable. Grabbing a shotgun, racking it, and pointing it at a threat is significantly easier than fumbling with any other firearm. It has been documented countless times by police and other armed forces that shotguns have the highest % of one shot incapacitations of any firearm. There is nothing as reliable as a pump action shotgun to go boom multiple times when you need it to AND stop your target. Finally, it has actually been studied that shotguns are historically seen in court rooms favorably in defense encounters. You will not be seen as a milsim prepper but instead a rational prepared citizen defending their home. A reliable 12 guage shotgun with a light can be obtained for $300 - 700 or even cheaper.

Armor: In roughly 88% of all home invasions where the attackers are armed they are armed with pistols, knives, or other melee weapons. A lightweight, simple to don, and nearly full torso coverage vest will stop all pistol threats and most vests also protect significantly against blunt force, slashing, or piercing attacks. In a scenario where you have to defend against violence being able to take direct shots, knife hits, stray bullets, or any other force to your torso... you gain a massive advantage to both win and survive the fight. (Hard vs soft armor) Hard body armor is not only extremely heavy, cumbersome, and only covers a small portion of your torso, it is also much more difficult to don. For roughly $500-1000 soft armor is far more useful than a new optic or gun. Additionally, a simple (non-tactical) vest is also generally not seen as milsim or hostile in a court room. A plate carrier, helmet, or any other "tactical" gear will usually make you look bad. You don't just want to survive a home invasion, you want to survive any sort of legal battle after.

TLDR: When there's a bumb in the night or civil unrest... donning a vest and racking a shotgun is fast and easy, quickly turning you into a formidable home defender. No complicated tactical gear, no spare mags or fancy optics, just two simple items that both protect you from harm and stops threats in their tracks.

Please understand this post is focused strictly on physical armed defense against an armed intruder. I am not discussing the importance of general home security in this post. This is not ALL you need to defend your home. Motion sensors, fitness, security cameras, reinforced locks, guard pets, defensive planning, medical supplies...etc are all extremely important and should be set up if possible.

I'm interested to hear your thoughts. This is just the conclusion I have come to and I understand it may not be true for others who maybe live in rural environments or have completely different variables to consider.