Paying for home improvements, credit card debt, emergencies ... if you have equity in your home, you're probably eligible to borrow against it by taking out either a home equity loan or a home equity line of credit (HELOC).

But doing so can sometimes mean you're shooting yourself in the foot.

Here's when the move can be dopey:

Borrowing against your equity means you put your house at risk of foreclosure if you can't pay back what you owe with interest. So don't do it if:

You habitually run a high credit card balance or have a hard time meeting your monthly payments. If you're so stretched that you need home equity to pay for your daily life or vacations, you should downsize your lifestyle.
There's not much difference between the interest rate you can get on your home loan and the rate on your credit card.
You want to pay off low-rate debt like a federal student loan. Federal student loan rates are typically lower than those on home equity loans and HELOCs.
You want money to invest in the stock market. (Money Magazine's Walter Updegrave explains why.)

Prepay mortgage? Yup

Prepay mortgage? Nope

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