Tapping Home Equity Now Could Hurt Later

Regarding “Equity Is Altering Spending Habits and View of Debt,” Aug. 28, Section A:

Those who label people who pay off their homes as fools remind me of other self-assured folk who, back around 1998, paraded their new wealth while declaring that anyone who wasn’t totally invested in mutual funds was an idiot.

As I remember how quickly their “millions” evaporated, I feel sorry for anyone who lets an “expert” whose income depends on selling real estate loan products convince him or her that home debt is a big cash cow. Let the buyer beware. Market value does not equal book value.

When agents of seizure and foreclosure are battering at the doors of those who have been persuaded to laugh now, the “fools” who didn’t buy in will, at least, be able to smile (every day, every year) all the way home.

Barbara Jarvik

Los Angeles