Paid My House Off - No One Else to Tell

[Andre1969]

Congratulations on paying the house off! I went through a similar thing back in early 2018, when I paid off my old house. It was definitely a nice feeling, but I didn't celebrate. I wanted to stay low-key, and not have people thinking I was a trust fund baby or anything like that. And I didn't want people to think that I was going to be opening a new BOA (Bank Of Andre) to finance their daydreams with my newly freed up cash flow.

 

[WhenIsItTime]

Such a great accomplishment! It is a very sensitive topic. Few schools of people. Some who struggle to make the payments. Some who prefer to be leveraged, which is fine and over the last 20 years often financially beneficial. I’m with you, I preferred to pay it off. In my case I was holding cash, bonds that weren’t productive. After paying it off, I took a higher AA of stocks.

Well done! Now enjoy those payments going to yourself in the form of investments/savings! The reward continues!

 

[WD40 or duct tape]

Congrats MarkY3130!! You beat us by 1 year (we were 38 when completely debt free). We struggled too with "celebration level" deciding to keep it pretty low key. Now the fun begins Celebrate a bit, then take that awesome cash flow you now have and REALLY build that nest egg!!

 

[Luvtoride]

It is a very sensitive topic. Few schools of people. Some who struggle to make the payments. Some who prefer to be leveraged, which is fine and over the last 20 years often financially beneficial.

Congrats to OP for reaching your goal! that is certainly something worth celebrating, but agree it may not be appropriate within your circle of friends.

Also, Thanks to WhenIsItTime, to acknowledge that there are various schools of thought on this topic. I definitely fall into the "leveraged" category with 2 mortgages (primary home and vacation home) and a few of those "no interest if paid in xx months" debt. I consider these "good debt" at ZERO or low mortgage interest rates (and especially with Tax deductions for mortgage interest) compared to the investment returns achievable, over recent years.

I suppose we are lucky to have income sources, both now and when we are both retired (my wife is retired already) to be able to service our mortgages. This has been factored into our spending in retirement.

Again, congrats on reaching your goal!

 

[pacergal]

Wow, at 37 that's a great accomplishment!
Do take DW out and celebrate in some fashion.
Now, that payment can go into after tax account and you will be ER'd sooner than you think.

 

[Chuckanut]

WOW!

You might consider hooking up with an 'Experiential College' at the local university nad give classes to folks your age and younger. They won't listen to us old folks anymore, but they might listen to a peer.

Congratulations!

 

[Midpack]

I guess we're slugs, we paid off our last mortgage when I was 53, so you're way ahead of us and most people I suspect. I could have paid it off earlier, but we just did double mortgage payments until it was paid off. And as others have noted, our net worth really took off after that, and we were FI when I reached 51 yo.

I actually scanned in the doc declaring our mortgage “mort” and still have it on my HD.

And like you I didn't tell anyone, not even family. Co-workers would have just been jealous, so I'd never have told any of them, even the ones I considered (work) friends.

 

[iloveyoga]

Congrats, it made a big difference in our lives. And I love the peace of mind.

 

[CaptTom]

We're all partying with you, a little, inside. That should add up to the celebration you've earned!

I didn't celebrate either. Paying off my mortgage was a bit of a come-from-behind victory, for a number of boring reasons that I won't go into here. But it put me on the path to ER, if not FI, so I'm glad I persevered. Leverage is a good thing if you can use it, but for me home equity was one of the few assets I could protect.

I don't think you'll ever regret it. Hey, if you want more leverage, just borrow on something else.

 

[MarkY3130]

I appreciate all the kind words, enthusiasm, and advice!

I’m a millennial by age but I don’t feel like one. My DW and I certainly had a few good breaks, but our defining quality is planning and discipline to stick to the plan.

I tried explaining to my 7 and 3 year old at dinner last night what we just did and why it was a big deal. They are too young to get it. I kind of wish they were older so it could have been a more profound teaching moment. Oh well, there will be more opportunities.

 

[Luvtoride]

I appreciate all the kind words, enthusiasm, and advice!

I’m a millennial by age but I don’t feel like one. My DW and I certainly had a few good breaks, but our defining quality is planning and discipline to stick to the plan.

I tried explaining to my 7 and 3 year old at dinner last night what we just did and why it was a big deal. They are too young to get it. I kind of wish they were older so it could have been a more profound teaching moment. Oh well, there will be more opportunities.

Ahhh, you didn't tell us you had two young ones! Now you can channel the mortgage money into paying for college for both of them! Well worth it!

 

[Dtail]

Congrats and a great accomplishment at your age.
Different opinions exist here about having a mortgage in retirement, but we are in the camp of no mortgage and haven't had one since 2009 at age 49.

 

[CSdot]

Congratulations!!!

Huge accomplishment.

 

[SnowballCamper]

The excitement isn't writing the last check for the mortgage, but the next pay period when you have a whole mortgage payment to spend how you want. Glad to have another in the no-mortgage club!

 

[Sue J]

Ah, it's a great feeling, isn't it!

We were 53 when we did it and I told my parents. They really understood.

When you OWN your HOME lots of crazy things can happen around you (market fluctuations, worldwide pandemics, interest rates you can't control, etc) and you know you have a solid foundation under you.

Congratulations!

 

[brett]

Good for you. Well done.

We did the same in our mid forties. Like you, it was somewhat anti climatic. We kept it to ourselves because we knew a great many people who were struggling.

I well understand that it is such a good feeling. When we were transferred and bought another house in another city our real estate agent seemed shocked when, while drawing up the offer, that it would be a cash sale.

It seemed like only a few years previous that we were buying used furniture and deciding to keep our car on the road for a few more years.

 

[Bamaman]

Congratulations on making a plan and sticking to it.

I often say that I'd hate to be 25 years old and starting to save for retirement with net zero interest rates and a stock market at almost an all time high.

But time is your ally, and you now have time to go through some peaks and valleys. Hopefully you can take ER much earlier now than if you had that house payment hanging over your head.

 

[frayne]

Congrats, it's an accomplishment many people never achieve until much later in life, if ever. There is no better feeling than knowing you are the sole owner of the roof over your head.

 

[CSdot]

Now make sure the save the difference.

I paid off my mortgage last year, and I used that money to direct invest each month in an online brokerage account. The money has added up much more quickly than I expected, so good positive reinforcement for my decision.

 

[retiringby50]

Congratulations! We paid off ours early... and yes, after it happened I also wanted to shout from the rooftop... but didn't of course I mean now that I'm 55, people might assume, and I'm okay w/telling people if asked but don't volunteer it.

 

[Time2]

Ahhh, you didn't tell us you had two young ones! Now you can channel the mortgage money into paying for college for both of them! Well worth it!

Yes, if your lucky like us, you will be able to pay for your daughter to go to Dental school when you are 66!

 

[bingybear]

Congrats! I did the same thing at 45 years old. Just don't make the same mistake that I made. I should have invested the house payment amount every month after I paid off the house.

But I didn't. I invested some, maybe half of what my house payment was. I should have invested more, but I blew some dough.

I paid off my current house at 33 yo

 

[gamboolman]

Congratulations MarkY3130 - especially at such a young age !

I was 54 and ms gamboolgal was 52
It is a wonderful feeling and a big accomplishment

Please what is a #slowhole ? I can't figure it out - ha !

 

[pjigar]

Congratulations. We paid off our home at age 45 finally. Feels good to have a major expense off of our budget.

 

[dmpi]

Congratulations. It's a huge step to financial independence. I paid off mine at 32 in the early 90s. Our house (only) cost $95,000 but it took every cent my wife and I had saved up from living cheap with our parents before we got married. Back then I didn't appreciate the significance but now I realize that it really was a big deal and it set us up financially.