Should You Pay Your Mortgage Off Early?

September 21, 2012

A topic that comes up all the time in my conversations with people looking for guidance is the usefulness of paying off a mortgage vs. keeping it.  This article talks about three homeowners who developed plans to pay off their mortgages in order to reach goals that are important to them.  One wanted to have his mortgage paid off prior to retiring so that his cost of living in retirement was very manageable.  It’s easier to retire comfortably if your biggest cash outflow item (for nearly everyone I talk to their mortgage or rent payment is by far their largest monthly obligation) disappears.  Imagine how little you would need to live on if you didn’t have to pay rent or a mortgage!  Another homeowner wanted to pay off the mortgage prior to their children going to college so that their monthly income could be used to fund education for the kids and the kids wouldn’t be saddled with massive student loan debt upon graduation.  The last one wanted to aggressively pay additional principal on their mortgage in a bigger house while they had kids at home and after the kids were gone, they downsized and used the equity in the big house to fully pay for a much smaller, empty nest house.   These homeowners all had goals and reached them.  Continue reading “Should You Pay Your Mortgage Off Early?”