Author Topic: Mortgage Payoff Club!!  (Read 1076377 times)

Rowellen

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1500 on: March 02, 2018, 05:30:49 AM »
Hello, first post after following MMM for several years.  Started getting serious about paying the mortgage off in 2014.  Hopping to join the club by next March!

Single income.
My wife stays at home with our three children.

12/2010 < 80k
03/2013 < 70k
04/2014 < 60k
12/2014 < 50k
09/2015 < 40k
03/2016 < 30k
03/2017 = 0 ??

Just to follow up:
12/2016 < 20k
03/2017 < 10k
05/2017 = 0

Missed my goal by a couple months, but I wasn't too worried about it since the balance was so low.  Now that I have been living without a mortgage for nearly a year, I can report that I have no regrets about paying it off.  Being free of that debt has freed up additional mental energy to think about other possibilities regarding investments and life goals in general.

Thank you everyone for your inspiration and support.

Meh close enough. Congrats :)

frizzywhiskers

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1501 on: March 02, 2018, 09:14:31 PM »
Update as of end of Feb, down to around $45K.   Focusing on pay-downs the next few months, plus hoping for a June bonus that will finally kill it mid-year.   [fingers and toes crossed]

@frizzy...   Race ya to July!  ;-)
@frost...  Great job killing that mortgage as sole bread winner especially.   Focus on being the best Dad and investor you can now be... happily debt free!

@indentured4now - Race on! :-)  Nice work!  Cheers to Mortgage Free in 2018!

Trifle

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1502 on: March 03, 2018, 02:12:03 AM »
Congrats everyone on your progress! Looks like we will have a bunch of graduates this year.

I am almost there!  Paying it off next Friday.   It'll give me something to look forward to all week. 

markbike528CBX

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1503 on: March 03, 2018, 03:47:14 AM »
Congrats everyone on your progress! Looks like we will have a bunch of graduates this year.

I am almost there!  Paying it off next Friday.   It'll give me something to look forward to all week.

@Trifele I see by the time stamp on your last post that you are "burning the midnight oil" to pay off your mortgage ;-)

Trifle

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1504 on: March 03, 2018, 04:14:49 AM »
Congrats everyone on your progress! Looks like we will have a bunch of graduates this year.

I am almost there!  Paying it off next Friday.   It'll give me something to look forward to all week.

@Trifele I see by the time stamp on your last post that you are "burning the midnight oil" to pay off your mortgage ;-)

Haha Mark!!  Actually, it's the other way round -- I'm up for the day, just an early bird .  :)

cheddarpie

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1505 on: March 03, 2018, 10:49:54 AM »
Great work, everybody, and congratulations @Rowellen and @Trifele!!


FireLane

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1506 on: March 06, 2018, 06:22:47 PM »
As of today, I'm down to $60k left. I could pay it off this year if I got really aggressive, but I'm trying to divide my paychecks between that and putting money into Vanguard. Aiming to be mortgage-free by 2018!

Progress update: My September payment has cleared and I'm down to $51K. The end is in sight!

Down to $38K as of February. I'm getting impatient to be done with this now that the amount left is so small. :)

$28K remaining. At the rate I'm paying it down, I have less than a year left. The light at the end of the tunnel!

$13K left, now that my last payment of 2017 has gone through. I'll be mortgage-free by spring 2018!

My original plan was to make the final payment in May, but I'm impatient with the finish line so close. I'm thinking of withdrawing a few thousand from my emergency fund to expedite the end. It's earning less in interest than my mortgage rate anyway.

I did this, and now my balance is (drumroll, please)... $5,851.94.

Officially in to four-digit territory! This should be done and dusted by March.

And I'm free! I wired in my last mortgage payment yesterday, and when I logged on to check the balance this morning, it said something beautiful: "PAID IN FULL".

For those who are still slogging away, keep at it! I'm glad I went this route. I might've had a slightly bigger net-worth number in my spreadsheet if I'd put those extra payments into investments, but you can't put a value on the peace of mind that comes with freedom.

cheddarpie

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1507 on: March 06, 2018, 07:19:54 PM »

And I'm free! I wired in my last mortgage payment yesterday, and when I logged on to check the balance this morning, it said something beautiful: "PAID IN FULL".

For those who are still slogging away, keep at it! I'm glad I went this route. I might've had a slightly bigger net-worth number in my spreadsheet if I'd put those extra payments into investments, but you can't put a value on the peace of mind that comes with freedom.

Congratulations, Firelane! Enjoy the feeling of accomplishment and freedom!

frizzywhiskers

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1508 on: March 06, 2018, 07:30:54 PM »
Congrats @FireLane! Oh what a feeling :-)

Money Badger

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1509 on: March 07, 2018, 06:35:11 AM »
Great job Firelane!  Enjoy putting all that free cash flow to work for you now!

birdman2003

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1510 on: March 07, 2018, 08:58:06 AM »
Just dropped another $5k on the mortgage!  I tried to pay it through their website but I had to call them for a principal only payment.  They don't make it easy, but at least it worked.  Balance is now $101k!

Zola.

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1511 on: March 09, 2018, 08:45:16 AM »
Happy to say I made an overpayment on the mortgage today, another £1500 shipped off. Balance is now down to £116,000.  I have saved a year off the standard mortgage time now too, since I began overpaying last October.

I am itching to get into the 5 figure club, but its a while away yet...

£1500 also sent to car debt - grand total now down to £4000, I am targeting for under a 1 year payoff (was originally a 3 year loan)

£800 topped up to S&S ISA this month also (usually £300), its been a good month!

Trifle

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1512 on: March 09, 2018, 09:41:11 AM »
And . . . it's gone!  Just got back from the bank -- paid it off.  Woo hooooooo!!

markbike528CBX

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1513 on: March 09, 2018, 10:36:02 AM »
And . . . it's gone!  Just got back from the bank -- paid it off.  Woo hooooooo!!


Woo hooooooo!!     

couponvan

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1514 on: March 09, 2018, 12:25:00 PM »
And . . . it's gone!  Just got back from the bank -- paid it off.  Woo hooooooo!!


Woo hooooooo!!     

Congratulations!!!

Trifle

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1515 on: March 09, 2018, 12:40:59 PM »
And . . . it's gone!  Just got back from the bank -- paid it off.  Woo hooooooo!!


Woo hooooooo!!     

Congratulations!!!

Thanks CouponVan and MarkBike!  Very happy.  It's one more milestone passed on the FIRE journey.  Not long now!

Scubanewbie

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1516 on: March 10, 2018, 04:43:54 PM »
Not a very frequent poster but so excited I just have to share!  Bonus posted yesterday and so excited to put all $8K straight to the mortgage (same as last year).  Only $32K to go and even with regular payments we're at the 2.5 year mark. I'm not as extreme as others on here but aim to shorten that to 1 year so my entire 30 year is paid off in 15.

Now that we're getting close though I'm wondering what to do with the extra $1K per month.  Obviously need to start looking into taxable investing as right now we've maxxed our 2 401ks, IRAs, and HSA.  Time to find someplace for another $13K/year.  Our main motivation is the flexibility to be a one income family if needbe so hadn't really wrapped my head around what to do with the extra if we are still dual income.

BlueHouse

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1517 on: March 10, 2018, 04:48:57 PM »
Not a very frequent poster but so excited I just have to share!  Bonus posted yesterday and so excited to put all $8K straight to the mortgage (same as last year).  Only $32K to go and even with regular payments we're at the 2.5 year mark. I'm not as extreme as others on here but aim to shorten that to 1 year so my entire 30 year is paid off in 15.

Now that we're getting close though I'm wondering what to do with the extra $1K per month.  Obviously need to start looking into taxable investing as right now we've maxxed our 2 401ks, IRAs, and HSA.  Time to find someplace for another $13K/year.  Our main motivation is the flexibility to be a one income family if needbe so hadn't really wrapped my head around what to do with the extra if we are still dual income.
Ahhhh!  close enough that you can start picturing what to do with the remainder.  Love it!  Only thing left is really taxable account - do you already have one with Vanguard? 

Congratulations, your story is motivating.  I'm also only on track to reduce a 30 year to a 15 year.  But that's huge to me.  It makes it so I'll have a paid off house before I retire. 

JD_

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1518 on: March 15, 2018, 12:00:10 PM »
FINALLY DID IT!

Sent the final payment in via wire transfer yesterday.  Took us 5 years and 6 months to kill it. 

This forum has been very helpful and encouraging.  Thank you all!

-Joe
« Last Edit: March 15, 2018, 12:02:34 PM by frugalJD »

Trifle

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1519 on: March 15, 2018, 12:02:10 PM »
FINALLY DID IT!

Sent the final payment in via wire transfer yesterday.  Took us 5 year and 6 months to kill it. 

This forum has been very helpful and encouraging.  Thank you all!

-Joe

Congrats!!!!!! 

SwordGuy

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1520 on: March 16, 2018, 10:16:10 AM »
Congrats to all of you who have recently paid off your mortgages!

Ditto to those of you making good progress!


frizzywhiskers

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1521 on: March 17, 2018, 10:51:38 AM »

Mortgage payoff update after receiving yearly bonus!
Mortgage amount - February 28, 2018 - $75,072

If my husbands bonus comes in where it should be, we are looking at payoff in July 2018 instead of September.
Ya Baby :-)

March update after applying tax return - $66,342.  Things are moving fast!  Congrats to all making such great progress to date.

BlueHouse

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1522 on: March 27, 2018, 10:54:47 AM »
Showing progress in terms of % paid off against initial home value (equity against initial sale price) so I don't get facepunched for too big of a house.
% Equity (against initial sale price)
  • 06/2012 - 25%  (downpayment & first monthly payment)
  • 06/2013 - 27%  (now paying a few hundred extra monthly)
  • 06/2014 - 30%  (now paying 1000 extra each month)
  • 06/2015 - 33%  (still paying 1000 extra each month)
  • 08/2015 - 46%  (big fat payment in preparation for a requested recast next quarter)
  • 03/2016 - 48%  (now paying 1400 extra each month)
  • 08/2016 - 53%  (now paying 6400 extra each month (only did that for 4 months))
  • 12/2016 - Long-awaited recast finally settled.  New payment is $1k less than previously.  Term resets to original 30 years, but I still want to pay this off before the 15-year mark, so I'm paying an extra 1945 each month going forward. 
  • 04/2017 - 55%  (now paying 1945 extra each month)
  • 02/2018 - 58%  (still paying 1945 extra each month)
  • 03/2018 - 71%  (big fat extra payment and still paying 1945 extra each month)

With this latest payment and if I continue to pay 1945 extra each month, I'll be paid off at 15 year mark and I'll be 57.  It still seems too long and I'd like to have this paid off when I'm 53/54 to coincide with when I plan to reduce my income/FIRE. 

Typing those words just made me extremely excited and makes me realize that this is actually possible!  I may increase my extra principal, or I may keep stashing a little each month and then make another big dent in a year or two if all else continues to grow. 


MangoAtPlay

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1523 on: March 28, 2018, 01:03:58 PM »
Hi All -
 We have $16,285.13 left on our mortgage!
 Planning to be free by August 1!

Money Badger

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1524 on: March 28, 2018, 07:40:24 PM »
Go @Frizzy @blue @mango!    Sounds like a good (debt free) cocktail in the making actually!

Goldy

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1525 on: March 29, 2018, 04:10:28 PM »
I used to be firmly in the pay off the mortgage camp and then did a 180 and found myself in the invest camp.  Now I find myself in the middle where I contribute an extra 350/mo and just plunked a third of my bonus on the mortgage and two thirds into investments.  Having the mortgage gone will help me reduce my retirement cash flow needs and I have 3 years left on my 2.5% arm before it starts slowly increasing.  181k left

BlueHouse

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1526 on: March 30, 2018, 11:34:22 AM »
Having the mortgage gone will help me reduce my retirement cash flow needs

This is my main reason for wanting to pay off the mortgage early.  (And of course, because it will feel so good)

Nederstash

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1527 on: March 30, 2018, 01:08:36 PM »
Hi All -
 We have $16,285.13 left on our mortgage!
 Planning to be free by August 1!

That's so cool, congratulations! How much was the original mortgage and how long ago was that? What was your strategy?

birdman2003

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1528 on: April 02, 2018, 07:18:56 AM »
Got the mortgage balance to under $100k! 

ScottsdaleSaver

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1529 on: April 02, 2018, 10:03:17 AM »
March 2018 - $227K  We made some good headway over the last quarter thanks to my bonus. We anticipate a couple more windfalls in the next quarter - grant work for my husband - & perhaps even a large promotion which would really speed things up. Send some good juju our way!

Jumping over here from a different mortgage payoff thread that never took off. We started the path to early payoff in earnest this June with a (free) refinance. We're on a 15-year mortgage at 3.25%, but I want to knock this thing out in 5.

Big picture - I want to time the mortgage payoff with my escape from corporate life. Our investments are where I'd like it to be at this point. We'll continue to max out our tax advantaged accounts, but everything after that is going towards this.

June 2017 - $254K
July 2017 - $251K
August 2017 - $248K
Sept 2017 - $245K
Oct 2017 - $244K
Nov 2017 - $241K
Dec - 2017 - $237K

ScottsdaleSaver

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1530 on: April 02, 2018, 10:05:16 AM »
Having the mortgage gone will help me reduce my retirement cash flow needs

This is my main reason for wanting to pay off the mortgage early.  (And of course, because it will feel so good)

Same here. I tend conservative, so I wouldn't be comfortable ditching work until the mortgage is gone.

robtown

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1531 on: April 02, 2018, 07:28:22 PM »
Five years ago we refinanced to a 5/1 adjustable at 2.25%   Next month it goes to 4.25%.   We have paid 3x the required payment for that time and are used to the extra cost.

Today my lovely wife went to the credit union and paid the final payment.   It has not sunk in yet.  Next month when our bank account is $3500 richer, the impact will be real.

iluvzbeach

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1532 on: April 02, 2018, 08:33:34 PM »
Five years ago we refinanced to a 5/1 adjustable at 2.25%   Next month it goes to 4.25%.   We have paid 3x the required payment for that time and are used to the extra cost.

Today my lovely wife went to the credit union and paid the final payment.   It has not sunk in yet.  Next month when our bank account is $3500 richer, the impact will be real.

Congratulations! What a great feeling. I bet people thought you were crazy for getting that 5/1 ARM, right? The best part is that you paid it off within those 5 years and used that 2.25% to your advantage. Congrats, again.

We paid ours off almost 10 months ago and haven’t regretted it for a moment.

Megs193

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1533 on: April 03, 2018, 07:57:22 AM »
It’s so inspirational to read all of these stories!  I would love to pay off my mortgage before my oldest son enters college. We save in a 529 for his college expenses but it would be great to bankroll his rent and living expenses by having our own mortgage paid off.  That gives us a little over 9 years to pay off our mortgage. We started at $720k at 4.125% a year ago and are at 497k right now. The majority of the decrease was from proceeds of the sale of another property but we do pay extra every month. We always pay an extra $650 a month but if there is any extra money left after our other bills and automatic investments I have been putting it to the mortgage.  My husband gets a large bonus every year and I would love to put half of it towards the mortgage but he’s not convinced that is the best thing to do with it.

Money Badger

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1534 on: April 03, 2018, 07:39:15 PM »
Just so no one ever thinks it's all rainbows and unicorns...    Just took 2 major hits with a tax bill and some expenses to fix up our house.   It's a minor set back of a month, maybe two.   We could have easily covered the latter expenses if there wasn't a mortgage payment...  Grrrr.   Just goes to show how expectations towards the end can get ahead of cash flow though.   Staying the course despite the headwinds...

Maverick1

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1535 on: April 04, 2018, 04:51:39 PM »
The credit union I deal with allows annual prepayments up to 20% of the original mortgage balance.  As of today I've prepaid 20% for 3 straight years.  I'm kind of sad I won't be able to do that again because the mortgage balance is now less than 20% of the original balance.

Dicey

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1536 on: April 11, 2018, 01:15:02 AM »
Just so no one ever thinks it's all rainbows and unicorns...    Just took 2 major hits with a tax bill and some expenses to fix up our house.   It's a minor set back of a month, maybe two.   We could have easily covered the latter expenses if there wasn't a mortgage payment...  Grrrr.   Just goes to show how expectations towards the end can get ahead of cash flow though.   Staying the course despite the headwinds...
Do you mean you don't have enough savings or a healthy enough emergency fund to cover homeownership's inevitabilities? Taxes and repair bills never go away, mortgage or no mortgage.

Rowellen

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1537 on: April 11, 2018, 05:43:20 AM »
June 16 $200,813

Apr 17 $151,412
May 17 $144,681
June 17 $139,075
July 17 $136,332
Aug 17 $131,585

Apr 18 $110,747
We've slowed down the mortgage payoff in order to contribute more to super (retirement accounts).

boarder42

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1538 on: April 12, 2018, 09:32:11 AM »
Just so no one ever thinks it's all rainbows and unicorns...    Just took 2 major hits with a tax bill and some expenses to fix up our house.   It's a minor set back of a month, maybe two.   We could have easily covered the latter expenses if there wasn't a mortgage payment...  Grrrr.   Just goes to show how expectations towards the end can get ahead of cash flow though.   Staying the course despite the headwinds...
Do you mean you don't have enough savings or a healthy enough emergency fund to cover homeownership's inevitabilities? Taxes and repair bills never go away, mortgage or no mortgage.

sounds like the latter expense could have easily been covered with capital invested in equities as well.  one of the many issues over looked by the pay down your mortgage crowd.  having to keep an overly large E - Fund - in this case it appears that wasnt enough.  and then having non tax advantaged capital to fund un expected costs be them home related or not.  you should throw down the full story to educate your bretheren on this thread of the short comings of pumping money into an illiquid asset and the risks that entails. 

plainjane

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1539 on: April 13, 2018, 08:47:28 AM »
Just so no one ever thinks it's all rainbows and unicorns...    Just took 2 major hits with a tax bill and some expenses to fix up our house.   It's a minor set back of a month, maybe two.   We could have easily covered the latter expenses if there wasn't a mortgage payment...  Grrrr.   Just goes to show how expectations towards the end can get ahead of cash flow though.   Staying the course despite the headwinds...
Do you mean you don't have enough savings or a healthy enough emergency fund to cover homeownership's inevitabilities? Taxes and repair bills never go away, mortgage or no mortgage.
sounds like the latter expense could have easily been covered with capital invested in equities as well.  one of the many issues over looked by the pay down your mortgage crowd.  having to keep an overly large E - Fund - in this case it appears that wasnt enough.  and then having non tax advantaged capital to fund un expected costs be them home related or not.  you should throw down the full story to educate your bretheren on this thread of the short comings of pumping money into an illiquid asset and the risks that entails.

Thank you Boarder. Your comments have been noted and this page of the thread now has a person or two saying that it is not a good idea. Now we can wait until there are enough other posters in the thread to have a page where your concerns aren't showing, and you can post this point again.

FWIW, I don't think the OP meant that they didn't have a big enough E fund. I think they meant that the things meant that they weren't able to throw more money at their mortgage this month because of those things. Perhaps it was too optimistic a reading, but it certainly was how I would have described that sort of thing when I was in the later stages.

(Note, I am a person who prepaid their mortgage because I am in Canada where things generally reset every 5 years, and I made many mistakes with that mortgage, but on the plus side now I have lots of money to throw into my retirement investments and hindsight is 20/20)

Dicey

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1540 on: April 13, 2018, 09:55:35 AM »
Just so no one ever thinks it's all rainbows and unicorns...    Just took 2 major hits with a tax bill and some expenses to fix up our house.   It's a minor set back of a month, maybe two.   We could have easily covered the latter expenses if there wasn't a mortgage payment...  Grrrr.   Just goes to show how expectations towards the end can get ahead of cash flow though.   Staying the course despite the headwinds...
Do you mean you don't have enough savings or a healthy enough emergency fund to cover homeownership's inevitabilities? Taxes and repair bills never go away, mortgage or no mortgage.
sounds like the latter expense could have easily been covered with capital invested in equities as well.  one of the many issues over looked by the pay down your mortgage crowd.  having to keep an overly large E - Fund - in this case it appears that wasnt enough.  and then having non tax advantaged capital to fund un expected costs be them home related or not.  you should throw down the full story to educate your bretheren on this thread of the short comings of pumping money into an illiquid asset and the risks that entails.

Thank you Boarder. Your comments have been noted and this page of the thread now has a person or two saying that it is not a good idea. Now we can wait until there are enough other posters in the thread to have a page where your concerns aren't showing, and you can post this point again.

FWIW, I don't think the OP meant that they didn't have a big enough E fund. I think they meant that the things meant that they weren't able to throw more money at their mortgage this month because of those things. Perhaps it was too optimistic a reading, but it certainly was how I would have described that sort of thing when I was in the later stages.

(Note, I am a person who prepaid their mortgage because I am in Canada where things generally reset every 5 years, and I made many mistakes with that mortgage, but on the plus side now I have lots of money to throw into my retirement investments and hindsight is 20/20)
@plainjane, let's be honest here. Everyone in the "Don't" Club is perfectly clear that we are advocating holding onto affordable, low fixed-rate mortgages, that are most likely tax deductible. For those of you who are not lucky enough to have these advantages, we offer no advice whatsoever.  Frankly, the way other countries handle mortgages scares the bejeebers out of me. This is a US-based site, so we are endeavoring to help the majority of readers make the most optimal decisions to reach FIRE faster. And yes, the message bears repeating, every few pages or so. Thanks for noticing.

boarder42

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1541 on: April 14, 2018, 03:05:35 AM »
Just so no one ever thinks it's all rainbows and unicorns...    Just took 2 major hits with a tax bill and some expenses to fix up our house.   It's a minor set back of a month, maybe two.   We could have easily covered the latter expenses if there wasn't a mortgage payment...  Grrrr.   Just goes to show how expectations towards the end can get ahead of cash flow though.   Staying the course despite the headwinds...
Do you mean you don't have enough savings or a healthy enough emergency fund to cover homeownership's inevitabilities? Taxes and repair bills never go away, mortgage or no mortgage.
sounds like the latter expense could have easily been covered with capital invested in equities as well.  one of the many issues over looked by the pay down your mortgage crowd.  having to keep an overly large E - Fund - in this case it appears that wasnt enough.  and then having non tax advantaged capital to fund un expected costs be them home related or not.  you should throw down the full story to educate your bretheren on this thread of the short comings of pumping money into an illiquid asset and the risks that entails.

Thank you Boarder. Your comments have been noted and this page of the thread now has a person or two saying that it is not a good idea. Now we can wait until there are enough other posters in the thread to have a page where your concerns aren't showing, and you can post this point again.

FWIW, I don't think the OP meant that they didn't have a big enough E fund. I think they meant that the things meant that they weren't able to throw more money at their mortgage this month because of those things. Perhaps it was too optimistic a reading, but it certainly was how I would have described that sort of thing when I was in the later stages.

(Note, I am a person who prepaid their mortgage because I am in Canada where things generally reset every 5 years, and I made many mistakes with that mortgage, but on the plus side now I have lots of money to throw into my retirement investments and hindsight is 20/20)

You have a different market but your plus side is flawed thinking regardless of the market. Money is fungible.

birdman2003

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1542 on: April 17, 2018, 07:43:32 PM »
Another $5k slam to the principal.  Down to $94k remaining...

Money Badger

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1543 on: April 17, 2018, 08:38:49 PM »
dicey and boarder42, thank you for the (bit presumptive) comments, but all's well and the plan to kill the mortgage is firmly intact.   Your counter-arguments to remain indebted add to my inspiration to kill the mortgage this year.   It has had almost zero tax benefit the past 2 years and will have zero tax benefit with the new tax law and standard deductions in 2018 tax year as well.    And thanks to plainjane for the comments that were indeed correct.   The house expenses didn't touch emergency funds and the tax bill payment was planned/saved in advance.   Just a large chunk to drop in a particular month out of normal cash flow (and the small side account for taxes) leaving little to pay down the mortgage is all.   Still on track to be free in July (and looking forward to figuring out how to change my username to something like... "free4ever"! ;-)

frizzywhiskers

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1544 on: April 17, 2018, 09:53:49 PM »
dicey and boarder42, thank you for the (bit presumptive) comments, but all's well and the plan to kill the mortgage is firmly intact.   Your counter-arguments to remain indebted add to my inspiration to kill the mortgage this year.   It has had almost zero tax benefit the past 2 years and will have zero tax benefit with the new tax law and standard deductions in 2018 tax year as well.    And thanks to plainjane for the comments that were indeed correct.   The house expenses didn't touch emergency funds and the tax bill payment was planned/saved in advance.   Just a large chunk to drop in a particular month out of normal cash flow (and the small side account for taxes) leaving little to pay down the mortgage is all.   Still on track to be free in July (and looking forward to figuring out how to change my username to something like... "free4ever"! ;-)

Yes!  Cheers to Freedom 2018! :-)

Dicey

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1545 on: April 18, 2018, 01:53:14 AM »
dicey and boarder42, thank you for the (bit presumptive) comments, but all's well and the plan to kill the mortgage is firmly intact.   Your counter-arguments to remain indebted add to my inspiration to kill the mortgage this year.   It has had almost zero tax benefit the past 2 years and will have zero tax benefit with the new tax law and standard deductions in 2018 tax year as well.    And thanks to plainjane for the comments that were indeed correct.   The house expenses didn't touch emergency funds and the tax bill payment was planned/saved in advance.   Just a large chunk to drop in a particular month out of normal cash flow (and the small side account for taxes) leaving little to pay down the mortgage is all.   Still on track to be free in July (and looking forward to figuring out how to change my username to something like... "free4ever"! ;-)
Speaking only for myself, congratulations! At least the discussion got you to think about it, which is a good thing.

Blindsquirrel

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1546 on: April 18, 2018, 03:04:10 PM »
    I wrote a check for the final balance on our mortgage last week. It is a very, very good feeling to have that expense gone. Will not carry that monthly expense in retirement.

Trifle

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1547 on: April 18, 2018, 05:32:13 PM »
    I wrote a check for the final balance on our mortgage last week. It is a very, very good feeling to have that expense gone. Will not carry that monthly expense in retirement.

Congrats Blindsquirrel! 

DreamFIRE

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1548 on: April 18, 2018, 07:14:20 PM »
    I wrote a check for the final balance on our mortgage last week. It is a very, very good feeling to have that expense gone. Will not carry that monthly expense in retirement.

Congratulations!  I've paid off two mortgages over my career.  Both were quite a long time ago when rates were in the 7 to 9% range, and I was still better off sticking with the standard deduction, so there was no tax deduction, either.  It's definitely a great feeling getting those paid off.  My savings rate has been quite high almost every year since paying off my house.

Money Badger

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Re: Mortgage Payoff Club!!
« Reply #1549 on: April 19, 2018, 06:29:38 AM »
Way to go Blindsquirrel!!   Well on your way to Handlebar ‘stache level savings and investing now.  ;-)