The Daily News has this update on debt levels in California. "Many families set off on a borrowing binge in recent years as low interest rates allowed lenders to loosen standards. Mortgage payments as a percentage of disposable income topped 11 percent at the end of last year, a historic high."

"The debt buildup can be blamed largely on the availability of home loans, and on homeowners spending in many cases under the assumption that rates would stay low until they could pay them off. Now that they are rising again, consumers who took out variable-rate loans are getting hit."

"'I think they're going to be shocked, particularly in the the area of mortgages,' said Phillip Shrotman, a financial planner in Long Beach. 'If they bought on an adjustable-rate mortgage, they've already seen at least a 100 percent increase.'"

"Philip Board, a financial adviser in Upland, said he's hearing the same concerns. 'I had a gentleman call me yesterday to ask if he should cash out his retirement to pay off his home equity line,' he said. 'He's been going through the refinancing game and he's been having fun and now he can't sell his house for what he wants. He makes a fair amount of money but he spends, too, and now he's living paycheck to paycheck.'"

"Advisers urge clients to convert variable home loans to fixed, if at all possible."