Americans are sitting on more home equity than ever — and more of them are tapping it. Not because they’re struggling, but because they locked in ultra-low mortgage rates and they’re not giving those up. So instead of refinancing, they’re turning to HELOCs and home equity loans. Joe and OG walk through the math, the psychology, the questions most people never think to ask, and the specific situations where borrowing against your home equity actually makes sense — and the ones where it quietly destroys a plan that was working.
What You’ll Walk Away With
- Why home equity borrowing is surging right now — and why keeping a 3% mortgage while opening a HELOC at 7.5% might still be the smarter move
- The Oreo problem: why having a HELOC open “just in case” is the financial equivalent of leaving a sleeve of Oreos on the counter and expecting not to eat them
- OG’s CEO versus CFO framework: how to separate the decision of whether to do the project from the decision of how to finance it
- The rate math you should actually run before choosing between a HELOC, a home equity loan, and a full refinance — including current Bankrate benchmarks
- Home improvements, credit card consolidation, college costs, business startup, and investing: OG’s honest take on each use case, including the ones that are just bad ideas
- The questions nobody asks before getting a HELOC — including when the rate adjusts (spoiler: faster in one direction), what happens to the draw period, and whether the bank can pull the line at any time
- Why using home equity as a third-tier emergency fund sounds clever but has a fatal flaw
- What happens if home prices fall and you’ve borrowed heavily against the equity — and why Texas has the 80% rule
- OG and Anna wrap up season two of the financial basics series — including why financial planning is an ongoing activity, not a document, and what’s coming in season three
- The one open question OG wants Stackers to send him before season three begins
Why This Matters Now
Home prices are up. Mortgage rates are still elevated. The people most tempted to tap their equity are often the ones who built it most carefully — and that’s exactly when the guardrails matter most.
From the Basement
Joe and OG dig into the HELOC decision with specifics: math, psychology, use cases, and the questions banks don’t volunteer. OG and Anna close out season two of the financial basics series with a reflection on why everything in a financial plan connects to everything else — and a preview of what’s coming in season three. Doug arrives with Bernie Madoff trivia. The guides get a Scout upgrade and the college planning guide gets a refresh just in time for back to school.
Resources Mentioned
Stacking Benjamins Community — stackingbenjamins.com/basement
Stacking Benjamins Guides — workplace benefits, tax planning, and college planning with Scout AI; stackingbenjamins.com/guides
Stacking Benjamins Field Kit — stackingbenjamins.com/fieldkit
Stacking Benjamins Basics Guide — season one and season two; stackingbenjamins.com/basicsguide
Stacking Benjamins voicemail — stackingbenjamins.com/yelldownstairs; leave a question for the next Q&A episode with Anna
OG financial planning calendar — stackingbenjamins.com/og
Stacking Benjamins Newsletter (The 201) — stackingbenjamins.com/201
Our Headline
Doug’s Trivia
- What’s the name of the person who committed the biggest Ponzi scheme in history?
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Written by: Kevin Bailey
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