Major update:
Paid $1,743 in principal on July 1. Balance is now $50,783. So, I’m $783 away from graduating this thread. However, I decided a few weeks ago to sell about $22,500 in mutual funds that we had in a fidelity brokerage account (don’t worry, we still have about 400k in the market through 403(b) & IRA accounts). I was uneasy about keeping the brokerage money in the market with another possible market downturn, and would rather just pay off the house. Another issue is that our emergency fund (just our checking and savings accounts) has ballooned for a number of reasons (my wife received a promotion in January and we are still not used to the extra cash, no expensive vacation this summer, no summer camp fees for my son, etc.). I’m embarrassed to say that we have about $33,000 in checking and savings accounts as of today (this is in addition to the 22k from the brokerage account).
So, we are most likely going to pay off the mortgage next month after what should be our last regular mortgage payment on August first. I’m sure the “don’t pay off your mortgage” crowd thinks I’m nuts but I don’t care. I was raised largely by first generation grandparents who worked insanely hard to keep a home. I have a chance to own my home outright a month before my 40th birthday, and I’m taking it. I don’t fully trust this market (although, admittedly, I trust it enough to keep my 403(b) money in the market), and my interest rate on the mortgage is kind of high considering it originated almost seven years ago.
Another thought: looking at my monthly mortgage statement that came in the mail today, it’s odd that there are three separate messages embedded on the paper with information about people having trouble making monthly payments (two from HUD, and one from the credit union about if COVID is impacting my ability to pay). I realize I’m lucky to be in the situation I am in. Also, though, I worked very hard and was frugal AF for the most part (my weakness is travel) to get here. Thanks to Gardo for making this thread, and everyone else for participating and cheering each other on. I’ll give an update next month if things go as planned. I work in higher education, so I suppose it’s possible that things can go south if my school cannot open and this COVID stuff gets much worse. It’s crazy times we live in.
