Episode Details

Happy Friday! Today's episode centers on something a lot of homeowners are being offered right now.

If your lender has dangled a refinance that "saves you $700 a month," you need to hear this before you sign anything. That's the big one today, and we've also got childcare costs, a shorter health insurance deadline, and a scam worth knowing about.

I'm Ralph Estep Jr., a licensed public accountant with 30 years in the business, and I'm joined by my cohost Juliet. We're live every Monday through Friday from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM Eastern on Becoming Financially Confident.

Here's what we got into today:

• In the mailbag, Mark and Krista asked if cash-out refinance money counts as income. It doesn't, but that's not the real cost. The lender resets your loan back to a full 30-year term, which wipes out years of paydown, tacks on closing costs, and can even cost you the mortgage interest deduction if the cash isn't spent on the house
• The government says childcare is affordable at 7% of income. Real families are paying closer to 20%, and I see it every day in my tax practice. If your employer offers a Dependent Care FSA, that's worth checking before open enrollment closes
• Health insurance open enrollment through the marketplace now runs November 1 to December 15, a month shorter than it used to be. My own premium went from $1,500 to $2,600 a month for two people, and it's projected to jump another 25% this year
• A cruel new scam is targeting people who already got scammed once, promising to recover their money for an upfront fee. There's no such thing, so report it at reportfraud.ftc.gov, call your bank's fraud department, and file with your state attorney general's office instead
• Our Friday money move was freezing your credit at all three bureaus, Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. Juliet did hers this week and felt a lot more secure

Got a money question for me? Send it to becomingfinanciallyconfident.com/question. No question is off limits, and we'd genuinely love to hear from you.

Watch or listen live weekdays at 11:30 AM Eastern at becomingfinanciallyconfident.com/live. Have a great weekend, everybody.

Mentioned in this episode:

Stamps.com: becomingfinanciallyconfident.com/stamps

WalletHub: becomingfinanciallyconfident.com/wallet

LawDepot: becomingfinanciallyconfident.com/lawdepot

Report a scam: reportfraud.ftc.gov

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Companies mentioned in this episode:

• Money Lion
• Experian
• TransUnion
• Equifax
• WalletHub
• LawDepot