Aven on The Bulwark Podcast

Americans are carrying over a trillion dollars in credit card debt at rates north of 23%. That's more than $200 billion a year in interest paid mostly by households who happen to be sitting on the largest pool of untapped home equity in U.S. history. Think about that for a second. You own a home, you've built real equity in it, and yet when you need capital for a remodel, for debt reconsolidation, for something your household budget didn't plan for, the financial system routes you to a 23% unsecured card instead of letting you borrow against the asset you already own. This is a quiet tax on the American middle class, and the big banks aren't really caring about fixing it. They even built the first home equity line of credit issued on a Visa card. So the same swipe that used to cost you 23% now costs you a fraction because it's secured by the value that you have already accrued. That's hundreds of dollars a month back in your pocket. And if you've been putting off a remodel, here's the case for getting on with it. A well-scoped renovation is one of a few purchases that actually pays you back because it makes the house worth more.