2026 Financial Milestones

Just paid our 4th qtr tax estimate and the trust 4th qtr estimate. Set up all the tax schedules for 2026.
 
I just transferred two mortgage payments to our lender and that will be our last mortgage payments ever.
We close on the new house in less than 7 weeks and that’s a cash buy. Zero debt from here on out.

I was a proponent of having a mortgage in retirement if the numbers worked in your favor and ours did. I was carrying such a low interest rate that if you factored in the earnings on what I would have used to pay off the house, we were living here for free, actually making more than it cost us for interest, insurance, HOA, property taxes, etc and we had enough left over for 6 months of groceries.

Rates have changed and the delta isn’t there anymore if I got a new loan. I am not a Dave Ramsey fan by any means, but I might I have scream in the new backyard that WE ARE DEBT FREE.
 
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COcheesehead said:
I just transferred two mortgage payments to our lender and that will be our last mortgage payments ever.
We close on the new house in less than 7 weeks and that’s a cash buy. Zero debt from here on out.

I was a proponent of having a mortgage In retirement if the numbers worked in your favor and ours did. I was carrying such a low interest rate that if you factored in the earnings on what I would have used to pay off the house, we were living here for free, actually making more than it cost us for interest, insurance, HOA, property taxes, etc and we had enough left over for 6 months of groceries.

Rates have changed and the delta isn’t there anymore if I got a new loan. I am not a Dave Ramsey fan by any means, but I might I have scream in the new backyard that WE ARE DEBT FREE.
Click to expand...
That is a great milestone!!
I'm not an advocate of being in debt in retirement and didn't like it in my working years either. I do know it is a necessity in life and it has advantages and not a bad thing.
I personally haven't had a home loan since I was 27 years old. We built our home from ground up and still here today 40 plus years later.
 
street said:
That is a great milestone!!
I'm not an advocate of being in debt in retirement and didn't like it in my working years either. I do know it is a necessity in life and it has advantages and not a bad thing.
I personally haven't had a home loan since I was 27 years old. We built our home from ground up and still here today 40 plus years later.
Click to expand...
Debt is just a tool. You can use it to build your life up or you can cut your fingers off. LOL
 
Just going back through my records and realized the following.

First MM took 11 years to make.
Second MM took 7 years.
Third took 5.
Fourth took 4.

Hope to fully quit (I'm semi retired) before #5 becomes a possibility.
Still, it shows the power of compounding. My inputs into those increases
were definitely higher around the time of the second and third MM than they are now
and that's been that way for about 5 years.
 
Koogie said:
Just going back through my records and realized the following.

First MM took 11 years to make.
Second MM took 7 years.
Third took 5.
Fourth took 4.

Hope to fully quit (I'm semi retired) before #5 becomes a possibility.
Still, it shows the power of compounding. My inputs into those increases
were definitely higher around the time of the second and third MM than they are now
and that's been that way for about 5 years.
Click to expand...
Heh, heh, #5 will happen AFTER you retire!! No w*rk involved. Isn't it great?!
 
old medic said:
Another milestone albeit a negative one.... DW has met her Out of Pocket for the year....
Click to expand...
Ya - I was pleasantly (??) surprised in mid December - went to the pharmacy - NO CHARGE! Out of pocket was met. Dang. Happy to not pay, but DANG - that means I am taking too many meds. Sigh.
 
I have a years of expenses on hand calculation on my financial dashboard board. I just updated the paid off mortgage and the new house expenses in the spreadsheet . As of this morning we have 115 years of expenses on hand. I share here only because no one else would care, let alone get it.
 
COcheesehead said:
I have a years of expenses on hand calculation on my financial dashboard board. I just updated the paid off mortgage and the new house expenses in the spreadsheet . As of this morning we have 115 years of expenses on hand. I share here only because no one else would care, let alone get it.
Click to expand...
Sorry. Is that 115 years of "house" expenses or of all expenses? If the latter, I think you win the prize for most years of expenses.
 
COcheesehead said:
I have a years of expenses on hand calculation on my financial dashboard board. I just updated the paid off mortgage and the new house expenses in the spreadsheet . As of this morning we have 115 years of expenses on hand. I share here only because no one else would care, let alone get it.
Click to expand...
Why so many years?
 
Is this the Blow that Dough thread?

I confess we are getting mostly new furniture for our new house. Just the bedroom furniture and some bookcases and shelving are going.
 
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