What is disturbing is that homeowners brag about how much equity they've earned from their homes. Yes, as principal balances decline and property value increase, equity accumulates. And yes, when the home is sold, the owner receives the benefit of the equity in cash. But some homeowners today, as many did in 2006, are using their home's earnings as an ATM and are withdrawing the equity just because it's there. We routinely ask members who request unusually large amounts of their equity what they're planning on doing with the money. One member, who apparently was caught off guard by that question, verbally fumferred but finally replied, "I'm putting it in my savings account."

I look at my house as a long-term investment. There's no way to know how much my house will be worth when we sell our house, but the cashed-out equity will be there as a supplement to my retirement. Not knowing what will happen to Social Security has added to the need to ensure as much money as possible has been accumulated prior to retiring. The key is to invest for the long-term and forget about the short-term gains which just encourage spending for stuff that yields only short-term pleasure.