Having said that, I think this thread may have just jumped the shark...
It's hard for me to see how a few people suggesting that there might be a small advantage to keeping a mortgage qualifies as "jumping the shark".
According to wiki: "
where the plot veers off into absurd story lines or out-of-the-ordinary characterizations."
IMO, that may have happened way back in the second post...
Congratulations!
Others may be along shortly to tell you what a terrible mistake you made but know there are an equal number of us here who agree with you that being debt/mortgage free is a wonderful thing.
So REWahoo, could you point out some threads where anyone said it was a "terrible mistake" to pre-pay a mortgage? I recall some threads (and yes, I've posted to some of them) that it seemed to make *little difference* either way. But there are a lot of threads on the subject, maybe I missed those.
I went through some in the FAQ, and the most objective one I found was this one that ran the numbers in FIRECALC:
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/analyzing-the-mortgage-payoff-option-17002.html
With the scenario provided, even when you add a 15% tax penalty for funds withdrawn to pay the mortgage, and assume there is no tax deduction at all on the interest, there is a *small* advantage to keeping the mortgage. This held true for some runs that I made, with my round numbers and current 30 year fixed rates. And the results typically are, somewhat contrary to what seems like "common sense", that risk was lower *with* the mortgage.
But it is typically a small difference, that grows a bit larger if you have a better tax situation. And that 15% hit ignores any taxes paid on the pre-pay, certainly some of this is after-tax money and some is cap gains. But, some could be RMD, so one would need to make this judgment for themselves.
As an indication of how "on the fence" I am about this, I have a small mortgage and I have not expended the energy to either pay it off OR take out a larger one.
In summary, I think the only "mistake" some people are making, is in assuming that it makes a big difference either way. But that is a small mistake, but it might distract people from the bigger fish (hey, points for bringing it full circle, "jumping sharks"?).
And I must add, it *is* a great feeling to save enough to pay off the mortgage - so congrats on that milestone!
-ERD50
