I'm no expert on mortgages, but I think I played my cards right.
Built this house about 25 years ago and got a 30 year mortgage. The problem with all of the 30 year deals I had was that most 30 year mortgages are front loaded with interest. Meaning that for the first 10 years, you are paying little to no principle and almost all interest. It makes it slower to gain equity. A couple of years later, after I got back on my feet financially, we wanted to finish our basement and the rates came down. So we refied to another 30 year and got some cash out to finish the basement and lowered our payment. 5 or 6 years later we refied to a 15 year mortgage. The 15 year loan was set up differently. Each payment would pay almost all principle with a little interest tacked on top. We were gaining a tremendous amount of equity. 5 years after that our financial situation had improved to the point that it was safe to pay it off. We talked to our accountant and financial advisor and both guys recommended paying it off ASAP. The benefit of interest write off on taxes wasn't worth more than what we could make through investments. My financial guy didn't like the fact that we pulled a large chunk of change out to do that, but the money returned to the accounts in short order.
It's nice not to have to pay a mortgage. The last thing you need when you're retired is to have a mortgage handing over your head.
Last edited by StoneCutter; 02/17/21.
