Are you robbing the Piggy Bank?

A few years ago if you wanted a home equity loan you were limited to about 80% of the value of your home for both the first mortgage and the home equity loan. Now there are Lenders out there that will do 125 LTV's! Is there something wrong with this picture? A lot of people think of their home as a GIANT PIGGY BANK. They borrow against it to pay off new toys, credit card debt, etc. The problem is they go right back and run the credit cards back up again. Could it be possible that some are living beyond their means? One of the biggest issues toward reaching a retirement goal is to have a home owned FREE and CLEAR. By stripping your home of all of its equity you could be removing that goal permanently or may have to put off retirement for a lot longer. It used to be that all of that interest was a great deduction but with new tax laws many people cannot even itemize anymore so it becomes a non issue. Leave that equity alone as a great way to save (a form of forced savings)for a time when you will really need it. Stop robbing the Piggy Bank. As a footnote Mortgage rates this week have stayed the same with very little movement. With that in mind look at it as a resting period because Mortgage Rates will continue their upward move along with the Feds who meet on May 10. We would enjoy your comments on this post. www.rateinformer