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Old 09-23-2021, 03:58 PM   #41
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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.
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Old 09-23-2021, 04:15 PM   #42
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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.
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Old 09-24-2021, 06:28 AM   #43
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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.
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Old 09-24-2021, 07:54 AM   #44
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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.
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Old 09-28-2021, 06:48 AM   #45
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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.
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Old 09-28-2021, 07:09 AM   #46
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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!
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Old 09-28-2021, 07:30 AM   #47
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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
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Old 10-03-2021, 10:49 AM   #48
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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 !
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Old 10-03-2021, 11:48 AM   #49
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Congratulations. We paid off our home at age 45 finally. Feels good to have a major expense off of our budget.
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Old 10-03-2021, 12:44 PM   #50
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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.
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Old 10-03-2021, 01:08 PM   #51
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We paid off the property last year. It was quite a moment for us.
But it got better and better over time as the realty sunk in that as long we can pay our taxes, no one can tell us to leave. We will always have a safe place to be. This feeling is just priceless to us!
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Old 10-03-2021, 01:37 PM   #52
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Congratulations on being Mortgage free at a young age! It took 21 years to pay off mine at age 53.
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Old 10-03-2021, 01:52 PM   #53
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Congratulations! My personal cutoff is that anyone who pays off their mortgage before they turn 50 is in the upper echelon when it comes to managing debt, but you're so far ahead of that.
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Old 10-07-2021, 10:21 PM   #54
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I have not had any debt to pay off in a long time, but youse guys make me want to have ice cream too, so I am going out to the fridge now.
I had ice cream tonight because I had to deal with 2 sick kids under the age of 4 screaming/crying all day for the past two days. AND I still have >120 payments left on the note.

DW and I don't share all of the same financial goals, but one we do share is that the note needs to be paid off before either of us throws in the towel.

NICE work OP! Keep it up.
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Old 10-16-2021, 12:37 PM   #55
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Long time silent member/long time lurker - 37 Years Old



Well, today I made the final payment on my house. Felt mostly anticlimactic if I’m honest. What’s funny is the biggest feeling I had was one similar to a #showhole (look it up if not familiar with the phrase) after I updated my spreadsheets and made the final entry into my amortization schedule/payment tracker. It was like, you’ve been updating this spreadsheet for years, now what are you going to do?



As much as I want to hold a party and shout from the rooftops, it just doesn’t feel appropriate. I understand that I’ve been blessed with employment that is better than many (and don’t want to rub it in peoples faces), but I’d still like a little credit for the financial discipline my wife and I have stuck too!



Yes I would have been ahead just investing that money in index funds, but no debt was truly the biggest goal of mine.



Right or wrong, my approach has been to firstly max out 401k/IRA’s/HSA (all of them) and secondly pay down the house. Now I will replace the second step with index funds in taxable accounts. Never had auto debt.



Thanks for hearing me out. Thanks for all the great content I’ve read here over the years.



Time to refresh my goals and targets
Congratulations! Yeah. It was for us too at 42 years old. We would have made more investing but we always wanted to be debt free as well. . As many have mentioned the feeling gets better. There is really no financial stress now. Money will stack up very quickly for you now. Enjoy!
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Old 10-18-2021, 08:33 PM   #56
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Congratulations! I was in a similar situation near your age. It's a great accomplishment and a great feeling!
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Old 10-24-2021, 02:46 PM   #57
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Congratulations, glad to see all of the discipline and hard work paying off for you both. At your age especially that is almost unheard of! I can totally relate with hitting different investment goals. A few friends I have are struggling financially, some of which is due to their own decisions. Still painful to watch.
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Old 10-25-2021, 04:49 AM   #58
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Well done! Quite an accomplishment at such a young age. You have a right to be proud of such a major milestone.

It took us until we were 45/46 years old by making double payments. Afterwards we used those payments for our 403b investments since we were used to living on the rest of our income for so many years. We are now "living in high cotton" for our needs.



Cheers!
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Old 11-20-2021, 12:25 PM   #59
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When I was 37 I had less than 40k net worth and just got out of the probation period of my first full time job.

After 7 years I celebrated my first 1m NW milestone but still no house. A house requires too much work that I don't want to do so renting is my way of procrastinating.
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Paid My House Off - No One Else to Tell
Old 11-21-2021, 07:47 PM   #60
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Paid My House Off - No One Else to Tell

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When I was 37 I had less than 40k net worth and just got out of the probation period of my first full time job.

After 7 years I celebrated my first 1m NW milestone but still no house. A house requires too much work that I don't want to do so renting is my way of procrastinating.


Not to detract from the OP’s choice and major accomplishment, but I can only imagine our wealth today at 56 had we rented for all these years and put the money in stocks that instead went into maintenance and improvements on the 4 houses we’ve owned. We made the choice to own, though, so it’s on us.
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