pay off your mortgage Archives - Life And My Finances

How to Pay Off Your Mortgage in 5 Years or Less!

By Derek, on May 1st, 2017%

“How long have you been living in the area?” asked the dental assistant. “Well, I’m officially making my last mortgage payment this month,” the grinning male patient responded. “Oh! So you’ve been here for 30 years, wow!”

This interaction seriously made me throw up a little. Debt has become such a normalcy in our society that people are starting to mark their live’s events by it!

(FYI, the norm wasn’t always a 30 year mortgage. People used to take out short term loans from the bank to pay for their homes, and then they paid cash for upgrades and increase acreage as they went along.)

I don’t know about you, but when people ask me about my life, I want to tell them about my kids, my travels, my experiences. NOT my long-term debts.

How to Pay Off Your Mortgage in 5 Years or Less

I started paying off my debts back in 2010 when I realized that my expenses were greater than my income. I was essentially going backwards every month… It really freaked me out, and I knew that debt was the problem.

In less than two years, . . . → Read More: How to Pay Off Your Mortgage in 5 Years or Less!

Should You Pay Off the Mortgage ASAP?

By Derek, on March 6th, 2013%

Do you currently have a mortgage? Given our economic uncertainty, do you ever wonder if you should be making an effort to pay off the mortgage? What are the pros and cons if you do start making those extra payments? What if you don’t? RB40 recently wrote about this very topic, but as I expected, his perspective was a little bias toward taking on debt. And guess what mine is? You’ve got it, NO DEBT! Let’s take a look at my perspective.

Save on Interest

What is the current interest rate on your mortgage? If you have a 30-year mortgage, you likely have an interest rate over 4%, which means that on a $250,000 loan, you’re paying $180,000 in interest over those 30 years! If you bought your house for $300,000, after the interest, you actually paid $480,000 for it. Good luck selling that for a profit!

Now, the advocate for holding onto your debts will say, “What about inflation? And, what if you invested your money instead of put it toward the mortgage. I could earn more than 4% a year!”

Inflation

It’s true. On average, the United States . . . → Read More: Should You Pay Off the Mortgage ASAP?