Author Topic: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club  (Read 891478 times)

sherr

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #600 on: May 18, 2018, 08:52:20 PM »
You sound like a pretty angry person and are probably an asshole in real life.. best of luck to ya!
MOD EDIT: Forum rule #1.
...

So Boarder's "Direct Style" of being a Jerk doesn't conflict with your rules?  Tell me how in my previous post that I in any way attacked him?  While he goes on to tell me I'm one of the selfish people that he DOESN'T know? 

Look I'm all about learning and facepunches - but you don't have to be rude or mean about it.

Seriously? Because, "you sound like an angry person and are probably an asshole in real life" is a direct attack on a person, not an opinion or argument or position. Boarder can be... "relentless" in attacking positions he disagrees with, and I've had a run-in or two with him about that in the past. But you attacked him as a person, directly. Are you seriously incapable of distinguishing between the two? How can you even ask a question like "Tell me how in my previous post that I in any way attacked him"?

PseudoStache

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #601 on: May 19, 2018, 10:03:29 AM »
You sound like a pretty angry person and are probably an asshole in real life.. best of luck to ya!
MOD EDIT: Forum rule #1.
...

So Boarder's "Direct Style" of being a Jerk doesn't conflict with your rules?  Tell me how in my previous post that I in any way attacked him?  While he goes on to tell me I'm one of the selfish people that he DOESN'T know? 

Look I'm all about learning and facepunches - but you don't have to be rude or mean about it.

Seriously? Because, "you sound like an angry person and are probably an asshole in real life" is a direct attack on a person, not an opinion or argument or position. Boarder can be... "relentless" in attacking positions he disagrees with, and I've had a run-in or two with him about that in the past. But you attacked him as a person, directly. Are you seriously incapable of distinguishing between the two? How can you even ask a question like "Tell me how in my previous post that I in any way attacked him"?

Umm I was obviously referring to my posts before my last Mod deleted remark.

He said: "Those who say who cares i could die with an extra million are some of the more selfish people alive."

While he may not have said directly: "PSEUDOSTACHE is one the more selfish people alive"

I would hope that you would also be able to comprehend that this an indictment on my character.

Then goes on to say "So you're planning to market time and bet against history. Best of luck then. But when you don't care about money who gives a fuck."

Yeah, don't you just love it when strangers talk to you like that?

Would you be OK if I said something like, "People who act like Boarder on forums are jerks"  Hey, I'm not directly attacking him, just the thought of people like him.

Are we good now - or do we need to keep this going?

MOD EDIT: No. You don't need to keep going. Take it to PMs.
« Last Edit: May 21, 2018, 09:47:24 AM by arebelspy »

PseudoStache

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #602 on: May 19, 2018, 10:45:09 AM »
if you are 40k ahead after 10 years put 40k into this caluclator with 0 extra invested at 7% over the next 20 years.   -- its worth 154k at the end of that.  time value of money and compounding

http://www.moneychimp.com/calculator/compound_interest_calculator.htm

Yup - I've done the math and get compounding... I didn't get to $1.75MM invested by mistake :)

Despite what appears to be cluelessness, I've been on here since 2013 and have learned a lot.

This is a purely psychological battle that I'm fighting within.... as I've mentioned, the math is the math.

But I am taking baby steps!  I just opened up a separate Vanguard account for the sole purpose of modulating "extra payments" into.

If I can't make myself go all in, I'll take it month by month :)

How about:
1. Dump all extra funds into investments
2. Save up enough to FIRE in the shortest time possible
3. Save up any additional amount needed to pay off your morgage
4. Pay off the mortgage

This allows you to front load your investments (where it matters the most) without having to carry the mental burden of thinking you'll have to pay a mortgage for 20 more years. 

That's what I'm doing.  My FIRE number is 1.5m plus $320k.  The 1.5 mil gets my expenses taken care of, the $320k abolishes my mortgage.  Just something to think about.

That is sort of what I'm doing right now - but stretching it out to 10 years since I am a work from home SWAMI.  If my job circumstances change before then, then so will my mindset, likely.

We are already saving/investing about $5K per month and figured that the additional $1629 applied to the mortgage would be a good use of funds.

I'm not really worried about portfolio failure at this point.... so I think that in my case, I'm probably good either way.

I was simply just looking for an objective analysis/understanding of my spreadsheet results to figure out the best way to optimize these next ten to eleven years.

It seems like the spreadsheet is NOT accounting for FIRE (with no additional investment).





sherr

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #603 on: May 19, 2018, 10:47:27 AM »
Are we good now - or do we need to keep this going?

Well obviously there would be no point in that, but Mods disagree with you, and I do too.

PseudoStache

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #604 on: May 19, 2018, 11:13:25 AM »
Are we good now - or do we need to keep this going?

Well obviously there would be no point in that, but Mods disagree with you, and I do too.

"Direct Style" and "Relentlessness" do not break the Number 1 Forum rule of not being a jerk nor rule 4 of being respectful to other members - Noted.

sherr

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #605 on: May 19, 2018, 02:23:48 PM »
Are we good now - or do we need to keep this going?

Well obviously there would be no point in that, but Mods disagree with you, and I do too.

"Direct Style" and "Relentlessness" do not break the Number 1 Forum rule of not being a jerk nor rule 4 of being respectful to other members - Noted.

Border regularly toes the line. You decided to escalate and stepped right over it, while simultaneously riding on a high horse of moral superiority. Not to mention that you are contentious enough in your own right.

Have a blessed day!

Tyson

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #606 on: May 19, 2018, 04:26:36 PM »
if you are 40k ahead after 10 years put 40k into this caluclator with 0 extra invested at 7% over the next 20 years.   -- its worth 154k at the end of that.  time value of money and compounding

http://www.moneychimp.com/calculator/compound_interest_calculator.htm

Yup - I've done the math and get compounding... I didn't get to $1.75MM invested by mistake :)

Despite what appears to be cluelessness, I've been on here since 2013 and have learned a lot.

This is a purely psychological battle that I'm fighting within.... as I've mentioned, the math is the math.

But I am taking baby steps!  I just opened up a separate Vanguard account for the sole purpose of modulating "extra payments" into.

If I can't make myself go all in, I'll take it month by month :)

How about:
1. Dump all extra funds into investments
2. Save up enough to FIRE in the shortest time possible
3. Save up any additional amount needed to pay off your morgage
4. Pay off the mortgage

This allows you to front load your investments (where it matters the most) without having to carry the mental burden of thinking you'll have to pay a mortgage for 20 more years. 

That's what I'm doing.  My FIRE number is 1.5m plus $320k.  The 1.5 mil gets my expenses taken care of, the $320k abolishes my mortgage.  Just something to think about.

That is sort of what I'm doing right now - but stretching it out to 10 years since I am a work from home SWAMI.  If my job circumstances change before then, then so will my mindset, likely.

We are already saving/investing about $5K per month and figured that the additional $1629 applied to the mortgage would be a good use of funds.

I'm not really worried about portfolio failure at this point.... so I think that in my case, I'm probably good either way.

I was simply just looking for an objective analysis/understanding of my spreadsheet results to figure out the best way to optimize these next ten to eleven years.

It seems like the spreadsheet is NOT accounting for FIRE (with no additional investment).

The way I look at is this - if I have money extra money, investing gets me 10%.  Paying of the mortgage gets me a savings of 4%.  So investing gets me a 6% better return than paying down the mortgage. 

Using this math, I can see that on a 30 year time horizon, every month I use that $1625 to pay extra towards the mortgage, I am leaving about $10k on the table.  Every month!  $10k!

On the other hand, I really hate debt.  Hence my plan to get to FIRE asap using high return investments (VTSAX) front-loaded, and then once I have FI, I'll re-evaluate. 

I'll say this - once you get to 1.5 to 2 million, the compounding becomes just crazy.  For example, if you get 10% returns on 1.5 mil, that's $150,000 returns per year.  Once I hit 1.5 million, the investment gains ALONE will pay off the balance of my mortgage in about 2 years.  Crazy. 
« Last Edit: May 19, 2018, 04:29:09 PM by tyort1 »

Bateaux

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #607 on: May 19, 2018, 05:27:34 PM »
I'm about to buy a 250k home with 20 percent down.  Even with over 2 million in current net worth that debt scares the hell out of me.

SwordGuy

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #608 on: May 19, 2018, 07:50:53 PM »
I'm about to buy a 250k home with 20 percent down.  Even with over 2 million in current net worth that debt scares the hell out of me.

I feel your pain.

I owe $162k with 13 years and 2 months to go out of the original 15.  Fixed rate at 2.75%.

Just sold my old house and it looks like we'll sell our flip house early.   I want to just pay off the darn mortgage.  Intellectually I know it's foolish and, unless we'll save a bunch on ACA subsidies by avoiding the subsidy cliff, I think we'll hold off on paying it off early.

But it still bugs me.

Goldielocks

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #609 on: May 20, 2018, 12:12:49 AM »
I am starting to get torn about not paying off more of my mortgage.

The interest rate has been creeping up on it.
The mortgage needs to be renewed in 12 months.
Goldielocks: are you currently retired? What percentage of your expenses would go to the mortgage payments under different scenarios?

Well, I am retired, and only working a part time adjunct professor role.  DH is working but at half the pay he used to get, but likes the job better and it is 40hr/wk max and 6 miles away from us.

What percentage of my expenses to to the mortgage payments?

Currently, the mortgage is 40% of what we WANT to spend for total expenses, and 50% of what we SHOULD spend (a lower amount ) of our total expenses.

We have around 67% equity currently.  If we pay it off, (the max I am willing to pay off) we will still have a mortgage for 17% of the home value.

Our property taxes, insurance, water / sewer / garbage bill is another 8% of our total (desired) expense budget.
Then, of course, we have general maintenance, gardening supplies ( i need to buy a new hose,  seeds), heating, etc.

If we pay down half of our mortgage, it would fall to around 20% to 25% of our expenses.

Goldielocks

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #610 on: May 20, 2018, 12:23:08 AM »
Hi Dicey, thanks for explaining.

Yeah,  I do have a pension with my tiny part time job, that I definitely max out at $2k/yr contributions.  RRSP's (kinda like IRAs) have the same (or less) tax credit going in as coming out, so minimal net benefit on those now.
 
DH essentially has no employer benefits, working for a small manufacturing company in their R&D department.

We do max out the kids RESP, (for the free money), and our TFSA's, and yeah, I am thinking of pulling money from the TFSA's (sort of like a Roth) and non-registered to put on the mortgage. If I do, I would readjust our asset allocations and treat the mortgage pre=payment like the bond percentage we keep.

So, the only better places to put the money is non-registered funds, and keep the $$ in our TFSAs. (tax free growth).

The decision is to keep the fixed income part of our portfolio, or pay off the mortgage (partially) now.?

Le Barbu

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #611 on: May 20, 2018, 05:43:51 AM »
Hi Dicey, thanks for explaining.

Yeah,  I do have a pension with my tiny part time job, that I definitely max out at $2k/yr contributions.  RRSP's (kinda like IRAs) have the same (or less) tax credit going in as coming out, so minimal net benefit on those now.
 
DH essentially has no employer benefits, working for a small manufacturing company in their R&D department.

We do max out the kids RESP, (for the free money), and our TFSA's, and yeah, I am thinking of pulling money from the TFSA's (sort of like a Roth) and non-registered to put on the mortgage. If I do, I would readjust our asset allocations and treat the mortgage pre=payment like the bond percentage we keep.

So, the only better places to put the money is non-registered funds, and keep the $$ in our TFSAs. (tax free growth).

The decision is to keep the fixed income part of our portfolio, or pay off the mortgage (partially) now.?

It’s not a big deal to put the fixed income from non-registered to pay down the mortgage. If all of your tax-advantaged accounts are maxed out and your AA is at least 80-90% stocks or stocks-alike, you’ll be fine. Maybe, you just have to much of a house or live in a HCOL, wich is not always an advatage for retirement.

Goldielocks

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #612 on: May 20, 2018, 11:32:40 AM »
Definite HCOL.   (1)  The cheapest house for sale out of a region of 2.5 million people starts at $650k.

I came to terms with the idea of having an eternal mortgage when we moved here.  As long as I can sell and buy a nice townhouse or condo outright, I am ok with it.

The challenge now is wondering if the risk  / dislike of changing (increasing) rates and reduced monthly cash flow is worth the slight advantage of having Fixed income -- assuming the fixed income returns positive over the long term.

Le Barbu

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #613 on: May 20, 2018, 01:14:27 PM »
Did you think of downsizing or even rent? Even in my not HCOL town (350k$ for a datached cottage) I plan to move when kids will be gone. Not only for the financial reasons but to get closer to downtown happening and services and get rid of at least 1 car. My neigbourhood is perfect for young families but not for older us.

Goldielocks

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #614 on: May 21, 2018, 12:52:04 AM »
Relocating is the backup plan to the backup plan (the first level is that I go earn a bit of money, at least until my kids are out of high school.).  DH loves his workshop here, so is not ready to downsize.

I can make it work, it is just that I am closer to the hurdle point of paying off half the mortgage -- or now.  Trying to figure it out.

Le Barbu

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #615 on: May 21, 2018, 05:17:03 AM »
My kids are 11 and 14 so, I fully understand you dont move now!

If I may ask, how much is your mortgage balance and taxable account(s) value? If you sell your investments now, what would be your capital gain?

Did you know you can make your mortgage interest deductibles in Canada? It’s called the Smith Manoeuvre.

There is a version of SM, the Singleton Shuffle, you can use when you already have taxable investments.

« Last Edit: May 21, 2018, 05:41:45 AM by Le Barbu »

Goldielocks

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #616 on: May 21, 2018, 10:19:50 AM »
I am not going to share the numbers but the mortgage is around half the value of my investments.   Taxes on the non-reg portion is fairly minor (I reset them a year ago, and minimal cap gains since then, some tax losses), and depending on what we pull, only a portion would come from non-reg.

As I stated upthread, my income is low, so the tax deduction on a Smith Maneouvre is not really relevant and the spread between mortgage rate and HELOC rate is just over 1%... or about 0.8% with tax deduction taken into account.

Instead, it would be to my advantage to bring the mortgage into our RRSP, but then I would want to do that with the whole damn thing (instead of creating two mortgages), and having 50% of our investments as equivalent to fixed income is too much for me, I don't want to exceed 75%, (I like the total $'s I have in equities) and the RRSP mortgage adds at least 0.5% cost to self-fund / register your mortgage each year, compared to the typical mortgage route at a big bank.    This tactic also encourages you to put more $'s into the tax free  RRSP account, (by creating a higher mortgage rate) but the issue is cash flow for me, not the size of the RRSP at this point.   (RRSP mortgage is a good strategy to over fund the RRSP if anyone is looking for that).

I think we will sit on it for 6 months, then talk to our bank about early renewals.  If I don't like the answers (they won't match the best available rate, or insist that my new low income is not enough to carry the mortgage), then I will evaluate paying down the mortgage.


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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #617 on: June 24, 2018, 02:36:26 PM »
I checked my Vanguard account today and saw that my dividends are in for the quarter.  By not paying off my mortgage and investing instead, at least for 3rd quarter 2018, my dividends have paid my mortgage.  (but not the full PITI).

FIreDrill

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #618 on: June 24, 2018, 07:36:13 PM »
Well, life happened and I disappeared for a while.  But now I'm back and with a mortgage bigger than ever! (Unfortunately)

We took an opportunity to move from our LCOL area to an area that we absolutely love... However, housing here is absolutely mind-blowingly stupid and I don't see it getting any better anytime soon.

Long story short... We moved and sold our house for 250k.  Relocated and bought a modest home that will fit us well for a long time, but at a price of around 650k.  We commuted a round trip time of 7-8 hours between the two of us for a while before we bought our house.  Now are combined round trip commute is about 2.5 hours.  Not the best commute but a hell of a lot better than before.  Other than the high costs, we absolutely love the home, location, and all the activities to do around here.  Our base incomes increased by about 20% so that should help to offset the housing costs a little.

Now for the fun stuff.... We now have a huge mortgage at a much higher interest rate of 4.75%.  I had to take a long hard look at our plan of attack when it comes to paying down versus investing but I came to the same conclusion as last time.  Max out retirement accounts and then hit the taxable brokerage accounts hard.  The pre-tax savings of retirement accounts is too good to pass up and I still feel the higher returns and flexibility of taxable investments works better for us than a guaranteed 4.75% return.

Savings will probably suffer as we get settled in, buy furniture, and get back to "normal", but we are on our way.

The good news is our income potential here is MUCH higher.  The transition took us from a 60% savings rate to an estimated 30% savings rate so we will see if that pays off in the next 5 years.

Glad to be back.  Time to stache.

SwordGuy

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #619 on: June 24, 2018, 07:49:22 PM »
@Goldielocks

I am starting to get torn about not paying off more of my mortgage.

The interest rate has been creeping up on it.
The mortgage needs to be renewed in 12 months.

  It was still a very good mortgage decision when we got it, but the cashflow to service it now that I am FIRED is quite high out of our monthly income.   And it will only get to be more $$'s as the rates go up.   It was a great mortgage decision when we got it 4 years ago, but now?  hmmm.  Maybe out situation has changed.




Recap --
Have a large variable mortgage renews in 2019.  Currently at 2.85% now.  Has increased from 2.1% in the past 16 months and likely to go to at least 3% this year.

20 year amortization remaining.

5 year variable rates are 2.5% (today, likely to increase)
5 year fixed rates are 3.15% (today, likely to increase, especially if we can't shop it around)

I am currently cashflow negative (drawing from savings), and it will get to be moreso as my mortgage rate increase.

No tax benefits for holding a mortgage - both because of country differences, and also because my income is so low that the Marginal Tax Rate is also quite low.  So don't need to adjust for taxes in the calcs.



Should I put a large lump sum ($100k to $200k) onto my mortgage, drawing down my fixed income portfolio?--

With all the drama, I'm not sure you got an answer. 


3.1% is still a very good rate.     2.5% is an excellent rate.  What is the cap on the variable rate and the max it can go up in one year?


Any rate below 3.5% is way below what you could expect to earn in stocks.

So, if it was a matter of staying in stocks or paying off the mortgage early, I would stay in stocks.  You would be more likely to come out ahead even having to sell some stocks to pay down the mortgage.   What would be your withdrawal rate if you keep the mortgage or don't keep the mortgage?

I decided to stay out of bond FUNDS because the interest rates have been so very low.  They are pretty much guaranteed to lose value because rates really can't go much lower, but they can go much higher.  (Kind of the same reason the stock market always goes up over time per JL Collin's explanation, only in the opposite direction.)    (Plus we have other sources of fixed or semi-fixed income that serve the same purpose.)

So, I'm not the one to give you advice on selling the bond FUNDS other than to say I wouldn't want to own them at this time.
I guess I'm committing the sin of market timing with bond FUNDS.
   

Dicey

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #620 on: June 25, 2018, 04:09:35 AM »
[snip]
The good news is our income potential here is MUCH higher.  The transition took us from a 60% savings rate to an estimated 30% savings rate so we will see if that pays off in the next 5 years.

Glad to be back.  Time to stache.
Wow! Lots of changes! I'm just thinking that 30% of a higher income, especially one with a possibility of significant increase, is still a lot of dollars. I had a boss who used to say it was dollars that bought groceries, not percentages.

Congratulations on the move and the mortgage.

SwordGuy

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #621 on: June 25, 2018, 05:28:44 AM »
Savings will probably suffer as we get settled in, buy furniture, and get back to "normal", but we are on our way.

Why?

Did the movers lose your old furniture?

Was the old furniture destroyed in a flood?

Does your new house have an extraterrestrial gravitational field that prevents the old furniture from functioning correctly?   And somehow new furniture is immune to this?


Seriously, why is new furniture needed?  :)   I see this mentality all the time and have always wondered about it.

OurTown

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #622 on: June 25, 2018, 07:29:32 AM »
My cats pissed on my furniture, so there's that.

FIreDrill

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #623 on: June 25, 2018, 09:37:36 AM »
Savings will probably suffer as we get settled in, buy furniture, and get back to "normal", but we are on our way.

Why?

Did the movers lose your old furniture?

Was the old furniture destroyed in a flood?

Does your new house have an extraterrestrial gravitational field that prevents the old furniture from functioning correctly?   And somehow new furniture is immune to this?


Seriously, why is new furniture needed?  :)   I see this mentality all the time and have always wondered about it.

Haha, our first home we didn't buy any good quality furniture.  It was all on the cheap, and I mean extremely cheap.  So when we moved 2500 miles it made more sense financially to sell/trash the stuff than to get it moved here.  We saved 1-2k in moving expenses, maybe more.

Some of the furniture we are looking to buy or build will be completely new to us.  Bedroom sets come to mind, we are loosening up financially a bit and now that we have a decent stache started we want to get some of the stuff that we put off in the past.

Over the last year, my mindset has kinda shifted from "Accumulate as much as you can!" to "Accumulate a good amount and spend money on pre-structuring your FI lifestyle".  I'm hoping that this makes the path to FI more enjoyable while setting us up for a successful post FI life.  Granted, it will extend our time to FI.
« Last Edit: June 26, 2018, 07:25:20 AM by FIreDrill »

FIreDrill

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #624 on: June 25, 2018, 09:50:53 AM »
[snip]
The good news is our income potential here is MUCH higher.  The transition took us from a 60% savings rate to an estimated 30% savings rate so we will see if that pays off in the next 5 years.

Glad to be back.  Time to stache.
Wow! Lots of changes! I'm just thinking that 30% of a higher income, especially one with a possibility of significant increase, is still a lot of dollars. I had a boss who used to say it was dollars that bought groceries, not percentages.

Congratulations on the move and the mortgage.

Thanks!  This has definitely been a year of transition.  My next dilemma is deciding if I should start switching jobs every 2-3 years in order to maximize income or if I should stick it out with an amazing employer for most likely less pay.  I'm hoping I move up quickly in the company and my salary follows.  I should be done with my Masters in a year so we will see....

Saving4Fire

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #625 on: June 25, 2018, 10:45:52 AM »
Count me in this club.

Five years ago I refinanced my mortgage to a 15 yr @ 2.75%. I figured I had the extra money and I wasn't using it, so why not? At the time I didn't really think about investing much outside of my 401k. In retrospect it wasn't a great decision because it would have been better to invest in the market, but I'm at peace with it. It'll be cool to have it paid off in 10 years. First world problems, etc.


Dicey

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #626 on: June 26, 2018, 08:36:37 AM »
Savings will probably suffer as we get settled in, buy furniture, and get back to "normal", but we are on our way.
Why?

Did the movers lose your old furniture?

Was the old furniture destroyed in a flood?

Does your new house have an extraterrestrial gravitational field that prevents the old furniture from functioning correctly? And somehow new furniture is immune to this?

Seriously, why is new furniture needed?  :)   I see this mentality all the time and have always wondered about it.

Haha, our first home we didn't buy any good quality furniture.  It was all on the cheap, and I mean extremely cheap.  So when we moved 2500 miles it made more sense financially to sell/trash the stuff than to get it moved here.  We saved 1-2k in moving expenses, maybe more.

Some of the furniture we are looking to buy or build will be completely new to us.  Bedroom sets come to mind, we are loosening up financially a bit and now that we have a decent stache started we want to get some of the stuff that we put off in the past.

Over the last year, my mindset has kinda shifted from "Accumulate as much as you can!" to "Accumulate a good amount and spend money on pre-structuring your FI lifestyle".  I'm hoping that this makes the path to FI more enjoyable while setting us up for a successful post FI life.  Granted, it will extend our time to FI.
I know this is a slight hijack, but it's house related, so please bear with me. I think there comes a point where it's okay to stop living like a student, with board and cinder block bookcases. I think it's also wise not to pay to move flimsy secondhand crap across the country. When DH and I married, we combined households, then sold each of our houses and bought one together. The new house is open plan with few walls. We held a giant Estate Sale when we moved. I kept everything we could use and sold the rest. I then got busy furnishing the new house. Everything came from a Consignment Store or CraigsList. My dining room table is eleven feet long. It was custom made from recycled timbers at a posh shop. It just wasn't custom made for us, lol. Not many people have room for an eleven foot long table and ten chairs, so the price was right. Our house is worth over a million bucks and I love that It's filled with quality used stuff that we didn't pay anything close to retail for.

Oh, and our office furniture deserves its own paragraph. We buy rentals in a retirement community. Sellers often leave things behind that they can't or don't want to deal with. Big things. The last one we bought had a lovely office with a suite of expensive furniture. Since we rent our houses unfurnished we were going to donate all of it. Then we realized it was better quality than what we had at home. We packed up the pieces we wanted in the truck and drove it eight hours home. We donated the rest. All it cost us was a little time and gas. We joke that it's free furniture that "only" cost us $235k. At least we bought the house for below market value.

Rufus.T.Firefly

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #627 on: June 26, 2018, 09:02:20 AM »
Savings will probably suffer as we get settled in, buy furniture, and get back to "normal", but we are on our way.
Why?

Did the movers lose your old furniture?

Was the old furniture destroyed in a flood?

Does your new house have an extraterrestrial gravitational field that prevents the old furniture from functioning correctly? And somehow new furniture is immune to this?

Seriously, why is new furniture needed?  :)   I see this mentality all the time and have always wondered about it.

Haha, our first home we didn't buy any good quality furniture.  It was all on the cheap, and I mean extremely cheap.  So when we moved 2500 miles it made more sense financially to sell/trash the stuff than to get it moved here.  We saved 1-2k in moving expenses, maybe more.

Some of the furniture we are looking to buy or build will be completely new to us.  Bedroom sets come to mind, we are loosening up financially a bit and now that we have a decent stache started we want to get some of the stuff that we put off in the past.

Over the last year, my mindset has kinda shifted from "Accumulate as much as you can!" to "Accumulate a good amount and spend money on pre-structuring your FI lifestyle".  I'm hoping that this makes the path to FI more enjoyable while setting us up for a successful post FI life.  Granted, it will extend our time to FI.
I know this is a slight hijack, but it's house related, so please bear with me. I think there comes a point where it's okay to stop living like a student, with board and cinder block bookcases. I think it's also wise not to pay to move flimsy secondhand crap across the country. When DH and I married, we combined households, then sold each of our houses and bought one together. The new house is open plan with few walls. We held a giant Estate Sale when we moved. I kept everything we could use and sold the rest. I then got busy furnishing the new house. Everything came from a Consignment Store or CraigsList. My dining room table is eleven feet long. It was custom made from recycled timbers at a posh shop. It just wasn't custom made for us, lol. Not many people have room for an eleven foot long table and ten chairs, so the price was right. Our house is worth over a million bucks and I love that It's filled with quality used stuff that we didn't pay anything close to retail for.

Oh, and our office furniture deserves its own paragraph. We buy rentals in a retirement community. Sellers often leave things behind that they can't or don't want to deal with. Big things. The last one we bought had a lovely office with a suite of expensive furniture. Since we rent our houses unfurnished we were going to donate all of it. Then we realized it was better quality than what we had at home. We packed up the pieces we wanted in the truck and drove it eight hours home. We donated the rest. All it cost us was a little time and gas. We joke that it's free furniture that "only" cost us $235k. At least we bought the house for below market value.

For me, it's a tug-of-war between saving and buying items that will reasonably last. My wife and I did apartment living for the first several years of our life. We went the extreme frugal route because we didn't start out with much money. We didn't buy a TV, the dresser and bed was a freebies from college, the couch was found second-hand by in-laws, dining room table and chairs were from Craigslist ($100), used washer and dryer were a Christmas present one year. The rest of the apartment was furnished with the extremely cheap Walmart style furniture.

It was perfect for a time in our lives where we had almost no money to spend on furniture. But the reality is that most of it eventually broke down and showed signs of wear after 5 years.

Fast-forward to our house purchase. We finally broke down and spent some money on furniture. Most of it is found through relatives, Craigslist and estate sales. But a specific things we bought new as well. Everything should last us much longer, which I remind myself, since buying furniture gets expensive quickly - even when shopping carefully.

The main thing we're trying to do is buy furniture we'll still like and won't look too outdated (or we won't care) 10 or 20 years from now and things that will hopefully last that long or longer.

Dicey

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #628 on: June 26, 2018, 09:56:14 AM »
^^This.^^ When I was just starting out, I read a great quote. "Only the rich can afford to buy cheap furniture." I have only purchased quality furnishings, typically used. That saying has saved me thousands on the path to FIRE.

I did accept a lot of cast-offs and hand-me-down, but when I turned 40, I wanted a more cohesive, grown-up look. Craigslist to the rescue, for the win.

OurTown

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #629 on: June 27, 2018, 01:33:12 PM »
When we first moved into our current house in 2010 I ordered some inexpensive furniture online, including a sectional.  It was not well made, it was uncomfortable, and it did not last.  And the cats pissed on it.  (They didn't like it either).  Last year, we had the great room repainted, and I had wood floors put it.  I also got a new sectional at a local showroom.  (Great American Home Store IIRC).  Price point was mid-range, but the quality is way, way better.  Cats have not pissed on it.  I probably could have found something cheaper but I have no regrets.

couponvan

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #630 on: June 27, 2018, 07:01:34 PM »
My quality furniture I still love 20+ years later. The cheaper stuff has warped or peeled.  The one exception is the couches - you cannot have nice stuff with children. They will jump on your couches and ruin them until they reach 18 and leave. We got a leather sectional last year, and I should not have let them talk me into leather. Some stupid kid sat on it with a wet swimsuit while wiggling around and playing video games....Fabric used couches are the way to go. They can be cleaned, and the cushions can be flipped over.  Pillows that are sewn into the back seem like a good idea until your kids decide to sit on them and rip them off.  Kids. Gotta love em - can't return em.  Craigslist quality furniture for the win

mtnman125

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #631 on: June 29, 2018, 11:35:17 AM »
I "think" I belong here.  Historically as our income increased we refi'd from 30y @ 5%, to 15y @ 3.5%, and now 2 years in to a 10y @ 2.79 percent.  I see the error of my ways especially considering market returns during that period.

I need some help with the thought process for the next move-most of which is hypothetical given uncertainty in interest rates, market returns, housing values,etc.  So mainly a thinking exercise.

That said, we plan to relocate in a few years, and will walk away with ~$300k, and current prices for housing in new area location are $300-$350k.  We'd plan to be there for quite some time (daughter will just be starting Pre-K, and close family there).  My thought is 20% down, 30y fixed and invest the rest in VTSAX.  I'd probably tweak my tax sheltered investments to maintain 80/20 rather than have the taxable account have its own allocation. I currently do not have a taxable account, but will start one as daycare costs lower.  Maxing out Dependent Care FSA, HSA, 2x 401k, 2x Roth IRA's.

After the relocation, Plan is to work part time, so should be making enough to make the regular payments- but at some point, we'll want to pull the plug completely (5 years, 10 years?).  Then what?

Do I pay off mortgage with hopefully a taxable account that doubled?
Do I change AA to something less aggressive and continue to make the payments out of the investment account?
Our goal would be to maximize ACA subsidies at that point (assuming still around), and maximize FAFSA benefits, but I think a large taxable account would affect the FAFSA.

Any advice is welcome and appreciated- nice to actually get these thoughts down!

letsdoit

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #632 on: June 29, 2018, 12:31:02 PM »
I'm in.  our mortgage is effectively 1.75%
no way I 'm paying that.

I used to have a  6.25% I paid that down like it was my job

Blahhhh456

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #633 on: June 29, 2018, 06:58:59 PM »
PMI is gone after 5 years (yes, bought a house with 10% down and went FHA - NOT doing that again)!! Hello paying my mortgage with no extra. Going straight to the market!

Dicey

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #634 on: June 29, 2018, 07:38:30 PM »
PMI is gone after 5 years (yes, bought a house with 10% down and went FHA - NOT doing that again)!! Hello paying my mortgage with no extra. Going straight to the market!
Congratulations!

Tyson

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #635 on: June 30, 2018, 10:37:55 AM »
I'm getting divorced so we'll be selling our home soon.  We've been lucky and the house appreciated in value a lot during our 4 years here.  Around $160k each when all is said and done.  I'll use $100k of mine as a downpayment on a new house (20% down) and finance to a low interest 30 year loan.  The rest I'll put in to a separate account for spousal/child support payments.

My wife, on the other hand, wants to take all of her $160k and put the entire thing as a downpayment on a house "so that I'll have smaller monthly payments".  When I point out that keeping as much $$ as possible in cash (or invested) will actually give her a lot more safety and flexibility it just doesn't seem to register.  And I think it's especially important in her case because she's still getting her real estate business going, so her income is very lumpy right now (and will likely continue to be in the near future), and thus having the cash in the bank instead of in the house will buy her time during those down months. It really does make me want to bang my head on the nearest desk.

On the other hand, she is very smart and is capable of processing new information well.  My personal thoughts are that she's just not able to take advice "from me" and it'll stand a better chance of being heard if it comes from a different person.

Dicey

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #636 on: June 30, 2018, 10:57:47 AM »
I'm getting divorced so we'll be selling our home soon.  We've been lucky and the house appreciated in value a lot during our 4 years here.  Around $160k each when all is said and done.  I'll use $100k of mine as a downpayment on a new house (20% down) and finance to a low interest 30 year loan.  The rest I'll put in to a separate account for spousal/child support payments.

My wife, on the other hand, wants to take all of her $160k and put the entire thing as a downpayment on a house "so that I'll have smaller monthly payments".  When I point out that keeping as much $$ as possible in cash (or invested) will actually give her a lot more safety and flexibility it just doesn't seem to register.  And I think it's especially important in her case because she's still getting her real estate business going, so her income is very lumpy right now (and will likely continue to be in the near future), and thus having the cash in the bank instead of in the house will buy her time during those down months. It really does make me want to bang my head on the nearest desk.

On the other hand, she is very smart and is capable of processing new information well.  My personal thoughts are that she's just not able to take advice "from me" and it'll stand a better chance of being heard if it comes from a different person.
There's a book, "Ordinary People, Extraordinary Wealth" which has the clearest explanation of this concept I've ever seen. The first chapter (the only one you need to read, IMO) was literally life-changing for me. It is my Ah-Ha! moment on the path to FIRE. I used to believe that killing the mortgage was the gold standard. My SO tried valiantly to explain why putting more than 20% down and prepaying the mortgage was woefully sub-optimal, but I wasn't having any of it.

Some years later, I stumbled upon this book in the library. What a game changer! It's old now, but the concept is still rock-solid and presented in an easy to read and understand way. It's written by Ric Edelman. He's a financial planner with a radio show, which I know isn't Mustachian, but it is if you get the book at the library. Excellent advice that you don't have to pay for, for the win. Even if you pay full retail and only read the one chapter, it's well worth it.

Tyson

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #637 on: June 30, 2018, 11:58:33 AM »
I'm getting divorced so we'll be selling our home soon.  We've been lucky and the house appreciated in value a lot during our 4 years here.  Around $160k each when all is said and done.  I'll use $100k of mine as a downpayment on a new house (20% down) and finance to a low interest 30 year loan.  The rest I'll put in to a separate account for spousal/child support payments.

My wife, on the other hand, wants to take all of her $160k and put the entire thing as a downpayment on a house "so that I'll have smaller monthly payments".  When I point out that keeping as much $$ as possible in cash (or invested) will actually give her a lot more safety and flexibility it just doesn't seem to register.  And I think it's especially important in her case because she's still getting her real estate business going, so her income is very lumpy right now (and will likely continue to be in the near future), and thus having the cash in the bank instead of in the house will buy her time during those down months. It really does make me want to bang my head on the nearest desk.

On the other hand, she is very smart and is capable of processing new information well.  My personal thoughts are that she's just not able to take advice "from me" and it'll stand a better chance of being heard if it comes from a different person.
There's a book, "Ordinary People, Extraordinary Wealth" which has the clearest explanation of this concept I've ever seen. The first chapter (the only one you need to read, IMO) was literally life-changing for me. It is my Ah-Ha! moment on the path to FIRE. I used to believe that killing the mortgage was the gold standard. My SO tried valiantly to explain why putting more than 20% down and prepaying the mortgage was woefully sub-optimal, but I wasn't having any of it.

Some years later, I stumbled upon this book in the library. What a game changer! It's old now, but the concept is still rock-solid and presented in an easy to read and understand way. It's written by Ric Edelman. He's a financial planner with a radio show, which I know isn't Mustachian, but it is if you get the book at the library. Excellent advice that you don't have to pay for, for the win. Even if you pay full retail and only read the one chapter, it's well worth it.

Thanks!  I have 2 library memberships (Denver and High Plains), Denver didn't have it on Overdrive but High Plains has it as an eBook on Hoopla.  Just downloaded it and am reading it now. 

talltexan

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #638 on: July 02, 2018, 08:15:32 AM »
It sounds as though each of you is now single and buying a $500,000 house. We would be remiss as MMM'ers were we not to suggest a simple way of lowering your monthly payments: buy a $400,000 house instead. Improves cash flow by $400/month.

Tyson

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #639 on: July 02, 2018, 10:59:38 AM »
It sounds as though each of you is now single and buying a $500,000 house. We would be remiss as MMM'ers were we not to suggest a simple way of lowering your monthly payments: buy a $400,000 house instead. Improves cash flow by $400/month.

In Denver there's a big, big difference in quality for a $400k home and a $500k home.  I can afford it and still save a ton of money every month (even with paying spousal support).  For me it won't actually be $400 extra a month since the payments will be roughly the same as the payments on our current home, which I've been paying by myself for over 4 years (along with all other household expenses). 

My main point is this - I have a steady job in an established career so my income is consistent from month to month.  For her those things are not true (although spousal support will help a lot).  Until she has regular, substantial income from her real estate job, she's better off keeping the cash as a buffer for slow/down months. 

On the other hand I can see her point.  In the 4 years we lived in this current house, it went from $455k to about $715k.  That's how things are all over here and it's still happening at a fast clip.  So if she rents for a while, she's right that housing prices will just get more out of reach, so best to buy now & own it while prices go up.  At some point they will flatten, but we're definitely not there yet. 

boarder42

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #640 on: July 03, 2018, 07:18:15 AM »
Just did some fun testing with CFIRESim and perpetual mortgages appear to eliminate SORR in most cases.  i expanded on @Retire-Canada  's post if you scroll down you'll see my testing metrics
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/investor-alley/stop-worrying-about-the-4-rule/msg2058297/#msg2058297


TexasRunner

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #641 on: July 03, 2018, 09:55:53 AM »
It sounds as though each of you is now single and buying a $500,000 house. We would be remiss as MMM'ers were we not to suggest a simple way of lowering your monthly payments: buy a $400,000 house instead. Improves cash flow by $400/month.

In Denver there's a big, big difference in quality for a $400k home and a $500k home. I can afford it and still save a ton of money every month (even with paying spousal support).  For me it won't actually be $400 extra a month since the payments will be roughly the same as the payments on our current home, which I've been paying by myself for over 4 years (along with all other household expenses). 

there yet.

Out of curiosity, where is there not a difference between two homes that have a spread of 100k? Adding 100k of house is pretty huge...

I take their comment to mean "there is a disproportionate spread of an additional 100k once you hit the 500k mark".

It is the same thing around here.  120K will buy you a crack house with rats while an additional 35k will buy a middle-suburban, very nice house (at 155k).  There is much more than 35k worth of materials / improvements in that last (relatively small) step.


Now, if FIRE is really anyone's goal, than they need to go the method of Jacob at ERE.  Otherwise, its all fluff (MMM included).

Dicey

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #642 on: July 03, 2018, 10:56:00 AM »
...Now, if FIRE is really anyone's goal, than they need to go the method of Jacob at ERE.  Otherwise, its all fluff (MMM included).
I totally call Bullshit on this total non-sequiter.  This thread is dedicated to learning how to use the power of leverage (i.e. mortgages) to hasten the path to FIRE, which is anything but fluff.

Jacob lived in an RV, which he presumably bought used and paid cash for. He split expenses with his wife, only reporting his half. I found his message helpful in my Pre-FIRE days, especially before Pete started MMM. I have great respect for Jacob's ERE, but this forum is much more interactive. Questions can be asked, experiences shared, advice given. Minds and lives can be changed. That is powerful mojo. Go take a look at @Silverback761's new journal. His turnaround has been swift and amazing.  The input from our community has been anything but fluffy.

If what you're saying is that MMM's too fluffy for you, fine, see ya. But others are being helped every day, and there ain't nothin' fluffy about that.

And while I'm gently ranting, I'll add that It's a helluva lot easier to hit FIRE when you can buy the deluxe version of a basic home for only $155k. Try doing that when the median home price is five or six times higher. Yet there are plenty of HCOLA mustachians who have done or are in the process of doing just that. And there's nary a jar of Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme in sight.

TexasRunner

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #643 on: July 03, 2018, 03:09:04 PM »
...Now, if FIRE is really anyone's goal, than they need to go the method of Jacob at ERE.  Otherwise, its all fluff (MMM included).
I totally call Bullshit on this total non-sequiter.  This thread is dedicated to learning how to use the power of leverage (i.e. mortgages) to hasten the path to FIRE, which is anything but fluff.

Jacob lived in an RV, which he presumably bought used and paid cash for. He split expenses with his wife, only reporting his half. I found his message helpful in my Pre-FIRE days, especially before Pete started MMM. I have great respect for Jacob's ERE, but this forum is much more interactive. Questions can be asked, experiences shared, advice given. Minds and lives can be changed. That is powerful mojo. Go take a look at @Silverback761's new journal. His turnaround has been swift and amazing.  The input from our community has been anything but fluffy.

If what you're saying is that MMM's too fluffy for you, fine, see ya. But others are being helped every day, and there ain't nothin' fluffy about that.

And while I'm gently ranting, I'll add that It's a helluva lot easier to hit FIRE when you can buy the deluxe version of a basic home for only $155k. Try doing that when the median home price is five or six times higher. Yet there are plenty of HCOLA mustachians who have done or are in the process of doing just that. And there's nary a jar of Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme in sight.


Dang Dicey, those bus tires hurt going across my back... lol!

I was mainly trying to agree and point out that there are tiers in real estate that don't make much sense in value terms, and going to that 'plateau' is more cost-effective.  I'm not saying that you can't FIRE and have a mortgage (since my goal is to FIRE and have a mortgage.....), but you have to agree that math is math and a 500k purchase (and it is a purchase) along the way to or after FIRE does make an impact.  Considering solid, well built housing is environmentally neutral and likely necessary worldwide for humanity to reach some sort of perpetual stability, I am not saying it is a bad thing to have a nice house, but rather trying to point out that an additional 35k (or 100k) of house that buys double that in value terms is worth consideration since all of it is 'excessive' in the absolute strictest FIRE terms.  (IE, don't make a huge purchase and you will FIRE faster).

I can see how my last statement was easily misconstrued, however.


---
Which remind me, I need to make another minimum payment on my mortgage.  ;)

Mr. Metal Mustache

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #644 on: July 04, 2018, 07:56:42 AM »
Is it still beneficial to make the minimum payment on the mortgage on a 30yr with a 4.75% rate? Or at this point would I be better off on a 15 @ 4.375%

135k loan 10% down......(I know it should be 20% but...stuff happens.)

boarder42

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #645 on: July 04, 2018, 08:02:47 AM »
Is it still beneficial to make the minimum payment on the mortgage on a 30yr with a 4.75% rate? Or at this point would I be better off on a 15 @ 4.375%

135k loan 10% down......(I know it should be 20% but...stuff happens.)

Depends on how long you plan to stay. If you stay over 7 years the 30 year will likley come out ahead. Less the 15 year.

Mr. Metal Mustache

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #646 on: July 04, 2018, 09:00:47 AM »
Planning on forever. Wife and I are committed to the area. Of course life does and can change but the plan is to stay there and not relocate.

protostache

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #647 on: July 04, 2018, 12:17:17 PM »
There's a book, "Ordinary People, Extraordinary Wealth" which has the clearest explanation of this concept I've ever seen. The first chapter (the only one you need to read, IMO) was literally life-changing for me. It is my Ah-Ha! moment on the path to FIRE. I used to believe that killing the mortgage was the gold standard. My SO tried valiantly to explain why putting more than 20% down and prepaying the mortgage was woefully sub-optimal, but I wasn't having any of it.

Some years later, I stumbled upon this book in the library. What a game changer! It's old now, but the concept is still rock-solid and presented in an easy to read and understand way. It's written by Ric Edelman. He's a financial planner with a radio show, which I know isn't Mustachian, but it is if you get the book at the library. Excellent advice that you don't have to pay for, for the win. Even if you pay full retail and only read the one chapter, it's well worth it.

I read this the other day on your recommendation (on Hoopla, which I had never tried before but is actually pretty solid) and just recommended it on reddit to someone in /r/pf. Gonna try to get my wife to read it, although I'm pretty sure she's not going to care. She doesn't have an opinion about our finances past "don't lose the money".

Dicey

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #648 on: July 04, 2018, 12:23:17 PM »
There's a book, "Ordinary People, Extraordinary Wealth" which has the clearest explanation of this concept I've ever seen. The first chapter (the only one you need to read, IMO) was literally life-changing for me. It is my Ah-Ha! moment on the path to FIRE. I used to believe that killing the mortgage was the gold standard. My SO tried valiantly to explain why putting more than 20% down and prepaying the mortgage was woefully sub-optimal, but I wasn't having any of it.

Some years later, I stumbled upon this book in the library. What a game changer! It's old now, but the concept is still rock-solid and presented in an easy to read and understand way. It's written by Ric Edelman. He's a financial planner with a radio show, which I know isn't Mustachian, but it is if you get the book at the library. Excellent advice that you don't have to pay for, for the win. Even if you pay full retail and only read the one chapter, it's well worth it.

I read this the other day on your recommendation (on Hoopla, which I had never tried before but is actually pretty solid) and just recommended it on reddit to someone in /r/pf. Gonna try to get my wife to read it, although I'm pretty sure she's not going to care. She doesn't have an opinion about our finances past "don't lose the money".
You know it's a fast read. Try offering her $100 to read it. Might be the best money you ever spent.

protostache

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Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club
« Reply #649 on: July 04, 2018, 04:37:43 PM »
There's a book, "Ordinary People, Extraordinary Wealth" which has the clearest explanation of this concept I've ever seen. The first chapter (the only one you need to read, IMO) was literally life-changing for me. It is my Ah-Ha! moment on the path to FIRE. I used to believe that killing the mortgage was the gold standard. My SO tried valiantly to explain why putting more than 20% down and prepaying the mortgage was woefully sub-optimal, but I wasn't having any of it.

Some years later, I stumbled upon this book in the library. What a game changer! It's old now, but the concept is still rock-solid and presented in an easy to read and understand way. It's written by Ric Edelman. He's a financial planner with a radio show, which I know isn't Mustachian, but it is if you get the book at the library. Excellent advice that you don't have to pay for, for the win. Even if you pay full retail and only read the one chapter, it's well worth it.

I read this the other day on your recommendation (on Hoopla, which I had never tried before but is actually pretty solid) and just recommended it on reddit to someone in /r/pf. Gonna try to get my wife to read it, although I'm pretty sure she's not going to care. She doesn't have an opinion about our finances past "don't lose the money".
You know it's a fast read. Try offering her $100 to read it. Might be the best money you ever spent.

Huh. Well, she read it. Turns out she’s been on team “don’t pay off the mortgage” forever, we just hadn’t really discussed it in those terms. She’s skeptical of the author’s 7-8% returns but I think I can build on this.

Oh and all she required was foot rubs.