Hi Everyone!
Today we will take possession of our first house and will be in debt for the first time in our lives.
With all the talk on the boards lately of the wisdom of paying down the mortgage as fast as possible vs. Investing it has highlighted that I have quite a few irrational feelings that are directly related to how I was raised and was wondering if anyone else has similar experiences or ideas on how to "get over it"
On the one hand my parents raised me very financially responsible - don't borrow anything you can't afford to replace if you break it, mortgages are the only acceptable source of debt, always look for ways to DIY or barter/trade for what you need, shop smart and invest in high quality that will last for years, get out of debt as soon as possible...all that good frugal advice.
Though not directly their fault, I also learned at an early age that money was a very scarce commodity (Over heard augments about money, my dad working 4 jobs and only having every third Sunday off) I'm shaking this belief, but sometimes I slip a bit:)
The flip side of this is my dad has always been very weary of investing and this has gotten much, much worse as he is becoming downright paranoid - NWO, Anunnaki, end of the world stuff. I never learned anything about investing other then being told at every turn it is a bad idea and I could "lose everything" I KNOW this is not rational but through the years the fear that our current financial system might not be very stable has sort of paralyzed me.
My parents (thanks to my Mom) have a little bit of money for retirement in very safe GIC's (Canadian) but definitely not enough to ever retire on. My dad works in a very physically demanding job with no retirement benefits, so I know I will be supporting them in some fashion in the future. There retirement plan is a plot of land they have which have a garden on and will eventually build a house.
Sorry for the long story...I am just wondering if anyone has any advice/suggested resources or similar stories to share. Despite how it sounds, I'm pretty rational about most things. - but having debt (even good debt that can be leveraged) scares the crap outta me. Rationalizations/face-punches welcome:)