Paid off the mortgage this week

[Culture]

Despite my intellectual understanding that paying off the mortgage makes no sense, I paid off the mortgage this week. Being in the house for 18 years and having made accelerated payments, there was only about 20% of the original balance outstanding, and we just decided we wanted to be debt free.

I guess this puts me firmly into one of the two camps in regards to the right answer to the infamous question .

 

[Bestwifeever]

What, without consulting us? Then I only have one thing to say--Congratulations!

 

[Sarah in SC]

Thanks for joining us. (and for being brave enough to post). Hurray!

 

[kumquat]

As Bobby McFerrin said, "Don't worry, Be Happy".

 

[W2R]

Congratulations on reaching your goal!!

One of the happiest days in my life was the day I paid off my mortgage. All mortgage payoff contraversies aside, for those who do choose to pay off a mortgage and then manage to accomplish that goal, it is an awesome feeling. So incredibly free, to think of never paying rent or a mortgage again!!!

 

[ziggy29]

Welcome to the world of Debt Free and the financial peace it brings. Optimal money move or not, it sure feels good!

 

[LOL!]

I'm gonna have to go out and get a home equity loan to counteract this tear in the Universe.

 

[brewer12345]

Not a bad deal. With the mortgage paid down so far you weren't getting a lot of financial juice relative to the cash flow strain of the payments.

Although I am not anywhere near the level of debt-hating frequently seen in these debates (leverage is the eigth wonder of the world IMO), I have always chosen a 15 year mortgage and may well pay mine off early when I get down to the last 5 years of the note. While squeezing all the juice I can manage is one thing, risk vs. reward is always worth spreadsheeting from time to time.

 

[bank5]

Despite my intellectual understanding that paying off the mortgage makes no sense, I paid off the mortgage this week. Being in the house for 18 years and having made accelerated payments, there was only about 20% of the original balance outstanding, and we just decided we wanted to be debt free.

I guess this puts me firmly into one of the two camps in regards to the right answer to the infamous question .

Congratulations!!! Must be a great feeling to be debt free. I'm in the other camp right now, but when I get down to ~10-20% left on my mortgage I might quickly switch camps to become debt free.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

Despite my intellectual understanding that paying off the mortgage makes no sense, I paid off the mortgage this week. Being in the house for 18 years and having made accelerated payments, there was only about 20% of the original balance outstanding, and we just decided we wanted to be debt free.

I guess this puts me firmly into one of the two camps in regards to the right answer to the infamous question .

Congratulations!! You will sleep so good tonight. I was always one that never had it in my mind to pay off the mortgage. My objective was to just gain equity in the house. My wife, who never really owned a house in her life, and mostly rented (prior to us getting married), always had in the back of her mind to be completely debt free and own the house free and clear. The day we paid it off she cried as she never felt such a relief. She never thought she would own a house outright. She is such a proud person for having changed my mind about outright ownership, that I finally agreed with her and we set out to accomplish that goal. And, I'm proud of her for persuing that goal.

 

[fisherman]

Congratulations! Technical analysis aside its the move we made also and have never regretted it.

 

[bbbamI]

This thread deserves the double dancing banana....

Another early mortgage payer offer here too. Congratulations!

 

[SarahW]

Congrats and WOO HOOOOO!!!

 

[accountingsucks]

Congrats. I'm in the same boat as I paid it off last year at 33

 

[Westernskies]

Congratulations from the "pay the sucker off early" camp.

I was a member for a couple of years until I jumped back in on another house....like a moth to a flame...

 

[aaronc879]

Congrats. I'm in the same boat as I paid it off last year at 33

That's my goal too. I hope to have my home paid off when i'm 33. I turned 30 in Aug. Hope to have it officialy paid off by 12/30/2012.

 

[Ronstar]

Congrats! I don't care what the other side says, the peace of mind from being debt free is hard to beat.

 

[simple girl]

Congrats! Can't wait to experience that day myself. We have about 5 yrs left to go on our mortgage.

 

[ls99]

In retirement peace of mind for us is more important than leverage.
After selling old house, we paid off this one immediately. Ahhhhh no worries.

 

[Walt34]

Welcome to the club! There's nothing in the world like the feeling that you don't owe anybody anything.

 

[TromboneAl]

Despite my intellectual understanding that paying off the mortgage makes no sense,

If you hadn't been paying it off early, the money would probably have been in the stock market.

 

[IndependentlyPoor]

Congratulations! It will feel even better next month when you don't make that payment and money starts piling up in your checking account.

 

[Darryl]

Congratulations, I bet it feels good to have knocked that out!

 

[DallasFH]

We paid off the mortage in 5 years but I don't believe we are debt free. We still have to pay the property tax on it yearly. When we bought the house, I did not even know there is such a thing call property tax. The good part is during this down turn, we were able to get a Heloc and DCA in the market. So far, up (+19.98%) on that part of the investment. Somehow, we are able to pay off 40% off the Heloc and looking for a W recession. If the DOW hit 5000 would it be GREAT!

 

[tuixiu]

Congratulations and welcome to the camp! The instructions for the secret handshake should arrive by mail with a couple days.