This post is part of a series where personal finance expert Dan Solin looks at money moves that may seem smart in tough economic times, but are actually quite dumb. See all 12.Lucky you. You have a fixed rate mortgage. However, the payments are a stretch for your budget and you have mounting credit card bills that you are paying off at a high rate of interest.
A friendly "debt counselor" suggests that you refinance your mortgage at a variable rate. Your initial mortgage payments will be less than your fixed mortgage and you will be able to pay off some of those high interest rate credit card debts with the cash you generate. As an added bonus, your mortgage payments are deductible, but your credit card interest is not.
Everyone's a winner. Right?
Not exactly.
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