Hit a Milestone

[chinaco]

No debt! Paid off the house the other day (about 7 years ahead of the mortgage schedule). We intend to downsize (to simplify our situation) once the real estate market recovers.

The long slow (disciplined) slog to FI seems to be working. The portfolio was diminished by the crisis but seemed to survive and hold up (diversification).

We are still on target for my ER date. I should be able to ER in 1.5 to 2 years (planned timeframe). DW hung it up a couple of years ago.

 

[traineeinvestor]

Congratulations

It must be a nice feeling to own your home outright

 

[simple girl]

Awesome! Congrats on a great achievement!

 

[megcrispin]

What a great feeling that must be. Congratulations on all of your FI accomplishments!

 

[MichaelB]

Congratulations.

 

[W2R]

Yippee!! Congratulations. Nothing feels better than setting a personal financial goal and ACCOMPLISHING IT.

 

[Goonie]

Congratulations!!! Becoming debt free is an awesome feeling...like a big weight being taken of your shoulders, and it brings with it a new sense of freedom!

 

[ksr]

Congratulations, that is a huge milestone on your way to FI!!

 

[BOBOT]

Way to go! We'll be there in exactly 2 years. In the meantime it's nice to know we could write a payoff check today if we wanted to.

 

[TeeRuh]

Congrats! Not only is a good feeling but you'll be amazed at the little "boost" you get in socking away more towards your FI goal. It's almost a logarithmic accelerator!

t.r.

 

[bbbamI]

Congratulations chinaco! Let's do the happy dance...

Let me tell ya...I've been debt free for almost four years and I STILL do a little shimmy from time to time....

Your ER target date is getting closer and closer....

 

[Bestwifeever]

Now when you fill out a form that asks if you own or rent your home, you can make an extra big, extra bold check mark in the "own" box. Congratulations!

 

[hguyw]

No debt! Paid off the house the other day (about 7 years ahead of the mortgage schedule).

It's a great feeling isn't it?
Congratulations!

 

[harley]

Congrats! I paid off my first house 20 years early, and it was an amazing feeling! Of course, I'm 29 years and 5 months away from paying this one off, but who's counting?

 

[FIREd]

Congrats Chicano! It must be an awesome feeling to have a house which is all yours!

I am the ugly ducking in my family, the only one who prefers to gamble in the stock market rather than pay off the mortgage... Perhaps one day I will listen to the little voice in the back of my head and pay off the damned thing.

 

[Moemg]

Congratulations !

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Good work, Buddy.

What do you plan to do with the money that you used to spend on the monthly mortgage bill?

 

[Walt34]

What do you plan to do with the money that you used to spend on the monthly mortgage bill?

When we paid off ours in 2000 we started dumping the money into a deferred compensation account (like a 401k). That was the only tax deduction we had, not wanting to take on another house, RV, boat with a head and galley, or any of that stuff.

 

[ikubak]

Now that the house is paid off, you'll look at your neighbors with house payments and two car payments and wonder how they survive. Congratulations! I believe once you have a house paid off, you will never again opt for a mortgage.

 

[W2R]

Good work, Buddy.

What do you plan to do with the money that you used to spend on the monthly mortgage bill?

I saved most of mine. It was absolutely amazing to see how quickly it accumulated becaue I was completely debt free after paying off my mortgage.

 

[Midpack]

Congratulations on one of life's great financial milestones, your velocity to FI will only increase...

 

[Tesaje]

Congratulations! I paid mine off 2 years ago and it is great being debt free. I found I can live off less than my soon to materialize annuity with no changes in living expenses with no mortgage. I saved my extra money. It is amazing how fast it piles up.

 

[megcrispin]

...now I'm getting jealous! I want to pay off my mortgage!
We're working on the debt first, though.
One day at a time.

 

[scrabbler1]

I saved most of mine. It was absolutely amazing to see how quickly it accumulated becaue I was completely debt free after paying off my mortgage.

Same here. I paid mine off in 1998, 9 years after I obtained it (with a refi in 1992 which initially cut $200 a month from it). My peak earnings years were from 1998-2000 (before I switched to working P/T in 2001) so I saved a bundle in that time. One biweekly paycheck more than covered my monthly expenses so I was just awash in surplus money every 2 weeks. Combine that with a bull market in those years and my NW just zoomed upward!

 

[Alan]

Congrats Chinaco! I thought it was an awesome feeling to have a house which was all ours once we paid it off.

And now onwards to your next big milestone in 2011 - great work