There may be a few people left out there who still have some equity in their homes (who haven't refinanced it away and used it to pay off auto loans and credit card debt, that is).
For heaven's sake, stop dipping into your home equity! You need it; it's part of your retirement, and it's probably your most valuable asset.
These days, lenders seem way too eager to give consumers access to Home Equity lines of credit. They've always made it available; a lot of banks let you write checks against your home equity. But now we're seeing debit cards tied to home equity lines.
Do you really need me to tell you that's a bad idea? Apparently some of you do, because you're out there tapping into your home equity with a debit card. Stop it!
Sure, some of you may argue that it's a good idea to use HE to pay down bad debt like credit card balances. But you shouldn't do it unless you have the discipline to stop charging things on your credit cards. Be honest with yourself. If you put your home at risk and paid off your credit cards, would you then destroy them and never use them again? Plus, using home equity teaches you nothing about money management or fiscal responsibility. That's why right now, even if it isn't perfect, credit counseling is still a better option than refinancing or bankruptcy. Because it attempts to educate you about sound money management.
Of course, I'm fairly biased against dipping into home equity. Here's a link to the federal reserve's home equity site that might be more objective. But do take my advice and be extremely cautious about mucking about in your home equity.
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