What It's Like To Stay Together For the Kids— and the Mortgage Rate

Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin

Money News Network

Education, Self-improvement, Business

4.4 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 9 October 2025

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Would you live with your ex to keep a 2% mortgage rate? That’s the question Morgan Dickson and her ex-husband faced— and ultimately said yes. But for them, the decision wasn’t just about dollars and cents. Keeping the home was the best decision for their kids—but the real estate market has become an unexpected character in their story. Today, Nicole sits down with Morgan , whose story recently went viral after being featured in The Wall Street Journal. Morgan talks about how the interest rate “lock-in effect" played a role in her and her ex's living arrangements, and how they manage expenses as a divorced couple cohabitating. Then, Nicole and Morgan dive into the economics of divorce, and what happens when personal and financial decisions become intertwined. All investing involves the risk of loss, including loss of principal. This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice. Always do your own research and consult a licensed financial advisor before making any financial decisions or investments. All investing involves the risk of loss, including loss of principal. Brokerage services for US-listed, registered securities, options and bonds in a self-directed account are offered by Public Investing, Inc., member FINRA & SIPC. Public Investing offers a High-Yield Cash Account where funds from this account are automatically deposited into partner banks where they earn interest and are eligible for FDIC insurance; Public Investing is not a bank. Cryptocurrency trading services are offered by Bakkt Crypto Solutions, LLC (NMLS ID 1890144), which is licensed to engage in virtual currency business activity by the NYSDFS. Cryptocurrency is highly speculative, involves a high degree of risk, and has the potential for loss of the entire amount of an investment. Cryptocurrency holdings are not protected by the FDIC or SIPC. *APY as of 6/30/25, offered by Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Rate subject to change. See terms of IRA Match Program here: public.com/disclosures/ira-match.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Nicole Lapin, the only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand. It's time for so many rehab.
0:12.0	Would you live with your ex for a 2% mortgage? That is a very real question that Morgan Dixon and her
0:21.6	ex-husband Ryan had to ask themselves, and ultimately they said yes. Today I chat with Morgan,
0:27.2	who you might have seen in the Wall Street Journal, in a piece that went viral for all the right,
0:31.0	and as I find out, a few wrong reasons. The article spotlated how Morgan is still living with her
0:36.5	ex-husband because of a 2%
0:38.5	mortgage rate. Although, as Morgan tells me, there is more to this story, as there always is.
0:43.4	But as a side note, two exes living together because of a mortgage rate is my dream rom-com, just
0:48.6	same. Anyway, Morgan is a real-life example of the lock-in effect, the phenomenon where homeowners
0:53.9	don't sell
0:54.5	their properties because current mortgage rates are relatively higher than what they have now.
0:59.0	The article that features Morgan and her ex says that between mid-2020 and mid-24, the lock-in
1:05.6	effect prevented nearly two million home sales. Today, Morgan shares her story. And then we dive deeper into the financial
1:12.2	side of marriage, divorce, and everything in between. The interview after this.
1:18.5	Support for today's episode comes from Square, the easy way for business owners to take payments,
1:23.2	book appointments, manage staff, and keep everything running in one place. On this show and in my books,
1:29.0	I always talk about how important it is to have multiple streams of income. But how do you
1:33.6	actually go from hobby to hustle? The answer, square. I have seen it so many times in real life.
1:39.8	Just this weekend at the farmer's market, there was a mom selling banana bread. We love banana bread.
1:44.5	And I could not resist. In the past, I might have missed out because I never carry cash. But with
1:49.8	Square, she was able to take my card in seconds. I got my delicious treat. She got paid and neither of us
1:55.9	had to stress. With Square, you can get all the tools to run your business with none of the
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