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How Ben Carlson Refinanced His HELOC at Half the Rate
Joseph Wang
Key Takeaways
Ben borrowed at 3.8%* through SyntheticFi to pay off a 7% HELOC, cutting his rate nearly in half with no monthly payment.
The process took days, not weeks, with minimal paperwork compared to traditional mortgage lending.
Without the HELOC payment, he redirected that cash flow into savings, borrowing cheaper and saving more simultaneously.
He tested SyntheticFi on himself before recommending it to clients at Ritholtz Wealth Management.
Ben Carlson, CFA, is Director of Institutional Asset Management at Ritholtz Wealth Management and the writer behind A Wealth of Common Sense. He's also a SyntheticFi investor, a fact he disclosed upfront when he sat down to interview SyntheticFi co-founder Joseph Wang on the Talking Wealth podcast — you can listen to the full episode here.
Before recommending SyntheticFi to clients, Ben and his colleague Michael Batnick wanted to test it on themselves. "We decided to be the guinea pigs," Ben said. "We wanted to see how the process works before letting our clients use it."
Ben had recently done a big house renovation and financed it with a home equity line of credit at roughly 7%. Every month, he owed a minimum payment covering at least the interest. The loan worked fine. But the rate could've been better.
He borrowed through SyntheticFi for three years at 3.8%, paid off the 7% HELOC, and eliminated the monthly payment. He picked the term, liked the rate, confirmed, and SyntheticFi executed the trade almost immediately.
The money was there the following day. Ben described the whole thing as an effective refinance and said it was "really easy."
"You're not going through a mortgage department filling out a bunch of paperwork," Ben said. "'Send us your W-2, send us your income, fill out all these forms.' The paperwork is relatively minimal."
With no monthly HELOC payment to make, Ben started redirecting that cash into his brokerage account, increasing his savings rate while borrowing at a fraction of what he'd been paying before.
Ben is aware of the risks, but finds them comparable to any securities-backed lending product out there. Rates could be higher when the loan matures, a sharp enough market drawdown could trigger a margin call. "There are risks to taking leverage," Ben said. "You have to work with clients who understand how this works. It's not free just because it's a low rate—it's still a form of leverage."
Ben now confidently uses SyntheticFi for clients at Ritholtz Wealth. "For a lot of people seeing it for the first time, it seems too good to be true," he said. "But it's a really interesting way to use your assets more efficiently if you need the cash flow."
Interested in learning more about how SyntheticFi works with advisors? → Set up a call with our team today.
Want to hear Ben walk through the whole experience in his own words? Listen to the full conversation on the → Talking Wealth podcast
