This Week’s Money Map:

• 🏠 Your home equity looks like cash. It isn’t.

• 🩺 Before you waive the campus health plan, run this ZIP-code test

• 💸 Your friend defaulted. How much can the lender demand from you?

• 💵 Old money scams are back, with better disguises

🏠 Your home equity looks like cash. It isn’t.

Renovation estimates, tuition bills or card balances can make “home equity” look like the answer. Tapping it creates debt secured by your home.

Used carefully, equity could lower a cost or protect the property. Used poorly, it can turn a shortage into a risk to your home. Here’s how to tell the difference.

Start with the problem, not the product
Home equity can be reasonable for a necessary roof, accessibility work or another durable improvement. It may also lower the interest cost of existing debt, but only if the cards stay paid off and the new payment fits comfortably.

Be wary of using your home for vacations, routine bills or speculative investments. Turning an unsecured expense into debt backed by your house raises the stakes. If borrowing only postpones a monthly shortfall, equity isn't solving the problem.

Ask one question: Will this money protect or improve the home, or permanently reduce a more expensive cost? If the answer is unclear, pause.

Choose the tool that matches the job
A home equity loan usually provides one lump sum with a fixed rate and predictable payments. It can fit a project with a firm price.

A home equity line of credit (HELOC) lets you draw money as needed. That flexibility can suit renovations completed in stages, but HELOC rates are usually variable. Payments can rise, and a low payment during the draw period may jump when principal repayment begins.

A cash-out refinance replaces your existing mortgage with a larger one. Compare the new rate and closing costs on the entire mortgage balance, not just the cash received. Giving up an attractive first-mortgage rate can make this the most expensive route.

This online HELOC calculator can estimate borrowing capacity, payments and loan-to-value ratio.

Make the payment pass a stress test
Before signing, calculate:

• The payment if a variable rate increases

• The payment after any interest-only period ends

• Total interest and every appraisal, origination, annual or early-closure fee

• The balance if you sell sooner than planned

• How long the payment continues into retirement

Your lender’s maximum isn't your budget. Keep cash for repairs, insurance deductibles and income interruptions after borrowing.

Don't assume the interest is deductible

Home equity interest may be deductible if you itemize and use the money to buy, build or substantially improve the home securing the loan, subject to federal limits. Using it for credit cards, tuition or everyday expenses generally doesn't qualify. Keep receipts and ask a tax professional about your situation.

If the money funds a renovation, tell your homeowners insurer before work starts. An addition, finished basement or new pool can change rebuilding costs and liability exposure. MoneyGeek explains how to update homeowners insurance after renovations.

Tapping equity can make sense when it finances a specific, durable need and the payment still works in a bad month. If it merely makes today easier by putting tomorrow’s home at risk, leave the equity where it is.

🩺 Before you waive the campus health plan, run this ZIP-code test

College move-in season comes with a deceptively expensive checkbox: keep the school health plan or waive it. The question often appears beside tuition and housing charges, when families are searching for costs to trim.

Waiving could remove a large bill. It could also leave a student three states away without a nearby therapist, doctor or in-network pharmacy. Keeping it without checking may mean paying for overlapping coverage.

This 10-minute comparison shows which plan the student can use before the waiver deadline makes the decision for you.

Start with the campus ZIP code
Students under 26 can stay on a parent’s plan. That doesn't guarantee a useful network three states away.

Search the plan directory using the campus ZIP code, then confirm directly with the providers. Check:

• The nearest hospital and urgent care center

• A primary care office accepting new patients

• Mental health and therapy providers

• The student’s prescriptions and preferred pharmacy

• Specialists needed for ongoing care

Also, ask whether telehealth works when the student is physically in another state.

A campus plan may pair well with the student health center, but ask what the insurance covers versus what a student health fee already pays for. Waiving insurance may not remove that fee.

Emergency care isn't the whole network test
Federal rules protect people with most private health plans from higher out-of-network cost sharing and surprise bills for most emergency services. Those protections don't make routine appointments, follow-up care or every ambulance ride in network.

Emergency-ready doesn't mean routine-care ready.

Compare two versions of the cost
First, estimate a typical year:

Annual premium or campus fee + expected copays + prescriptions + deductible and coinsurance you reasonably expect

Then check the in-network worst case:
Annual premium or campus fee + out-of-pocket maximum

Out-of-network services, excluded care and premiums don't count toward the out-of-pocket maximum. If the parent already has family coverage, compare the additional premium caused by keeping the student on it, not the entire family premium.

This health insurance cost calculator provides a benchmark by age, state and plan type. MoneyGeek's guide to health insurance for college students can help you compare options.

Treat the waiver like a deadline, not paperwork
Schools set their own dates and “comparable coverage” rules. A parent’s HMO or out-of-state Medicaid plan may not satisfy the school if usable local care is limited.

Download each plan’s Summary of Benefits and Coverage. Submit the waiver early, save the approval and check whether it must be repeated every academic year.

Marketplace coverage is another possibility. Savings depend partly on household income, tax dependency and location. A move to or from school may create a Special Enrollment Period, but voluntarily dropping student coverage doesn't create one.

The winning plan isn’t necessarily the one that removes the biggest charge today. It’s the one the student can use on an ordinary Tuesday, without turning care into a road trip.

💸 Your friend defaulted. How much can the lender demand from you?

You may have co-signed because a friend needed help qualifying, not because you expected to make a payment. Then a collection notice arrives with your name on it.

That’s the moment many co-signers learn what they actually signed. You weren’t simply a reference or backup contact. You promised the lender that the debt would be paid. Acting quickly may limit additional fees, credit damage and collection pressure.

Yes, you can be responsible for the full debt
If the borrower defaults, the lender can generally demand payment from you. Depending on the contract, that may include the remaining principal, interest, late fees and collection costs.

In many cases, the lender doesn't have to exhaust every collection option against your friend before contacting you, although state law can affect the process. Co-signing also doesn't automatically give you ownership of the car, cash or other property the loan financed.

The loan can appear on your credit reports as your debt. Missed payments and a default may hurt both signers’ credit, and the balance can affect your ability to qualify for another loan even if you never used the money.

Find out exactly where the loan stands
Call the lender or servicer — not just your friend — and ask for:

• The current balance and payment history

• The amount needed to bring the account current

• Whether the loan has been accelerated or sent to collections

• Available hardship, modified-payment or settlement options

• Copies of the agreement and notices you are entitled to receive

If you make a payment, send it to the lender or authorized collector and keep proof. Paying your friend doesn't guarantee the money reaches the account.

Check all three credit reports and dispute information only if it's inaccurate. Accurate late payments generally can't be removed simply because your friend promised to pay.

If it’s a car loan
Default may lead to repossession. Selling the car doesn't necessarily erase the debt: you and the borrower could still owe a deficiency if the sale proceeds don't cover the balance and permitted costs.

Also, confirm that required auto insurance remains active. A lapse on a financed vehicle can trigger expensive lender-placed coverage or other consequences. MoneyGeek explains what can happen after an insurance lapse on a financed car.

Can you make your friend repay you?
A written agreement between you and your friend may support a claim for reimbursement, but it doesn't cancel your obligation to the lender. Save messages, payment records and the original loan documents. If you receive a lawsuit, repossession notice or wage-garnishment warning, contact a consumer attorney or legal-aid office promptly; deadlines and remedies vary by state.

Getting your name removed usually requires a lender-approved co-signer release, refinancing without you or paying off the loan. Until one of those happens, the promise remains yours too.

💵 Old money scams are back, with better disguises

The fake bank call, counterfeit check and gift-card demand never disappeared. They simply learned to arrive through convincing caller ID, polished emails and messages containing enough personal information to feel real.

That matters because familiarity can lower your guard. The FTC says consumers reported losing $15.9 billion to fraud in 2025, including $3.5 billion to imposter scams. You don’t need to recognize every version. You need a test that works even when the story sounds believable.

Ignore the caller ID and verify the caller
A number displayed as your bank, a government agency or local police department can be spoofed. If someone says your account is compromised, hang up. Call the number printed on your card or type the organization’s address into your browser yourself.

Don't use the phone number or link in the message. A real fraud department will understand that you want to verify the call.

The clearest warning is a demand to move money to “protect” it. A bank or government agency won’t tell you to transfer savings to a safe account, buy gift cards, send cryptocurrency or hand cash to a courier.

Available funds don't make a check real
An old fake-check trick is finding new victims through online sales, remote-job offers and prize notices. Someone sends you a check, then asks you to return an overpayment, buy equipment or forward part of the money.

Your banking app may show the deposit as available within days. That doesn't mean the check has cleared. A counterfeit or altered check can surface later, leaving you responsible for money you sent out.

Treat any check-plus-refund request as a stop sign. Don't send anything until your bank confirms the check is legitimate, and remain skeptical if the arrangement makes no business sense.

Protect the mailbox, too
Check washing is decidedly low-tech: a thief steals an outgoing check, changes the payee or amount and deposits it. Retrieve incoming mail promptly, avoid leaving outgoing checks in an unlocked mailbox and review cleared-check images.

Electronic bill pay can reduce the checks traveling through the mail. If you must mail one, take it inside a post office or deposit it shortly before collection.

If you already paid
Speed matters. Contact your bank, card issuer, payment app, wire service or gift-card company immediately. Ask whether the transaction can be stopped, recalled or frozen. Preserve messages and receipts, change compromised passwords and check your credit reports. Report mail fraud to postal inspectors and other scams to the FTC.

The smartest response to an urgent money request is intentionally boring: stop, verify and discuss it with someone you trust. A legitimate problem can survive a second phone call. A scammer’s story often can’t.

Smart Cents gives you actionable tips and mindset shifts to help you reach your financial happy place. Thanks for being a part of our community.

The MoneyGeek Team

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