How much will a $40,000 HELOC cost per month after the Fed interest rate cut?

Homeowners should carefully weigh the costs of borrowing equity before getting started with a HELOC. Getty Images/iStockphoto

Borrowing money can be stressful. But doing so via a product that has a variable interest rate adds another layer of concern.

And, in the interest rate climate of recent years, this has been particularly problematic. With inflation high, the Federal Reserve moved to issue a series of interest rate hikes, at one point bringing the federal funds rate to its highest level in 22 years . Those increases made borrowing with a variable rate product, like a home equity line of credit (HELOC) , cost-prohibitive, as rates and payments were positioned to move upward each month. So borrowing a large amount of money, like $40,000, in this way was a bit risky.