Hit a Milestone

[mickeyd]

Paid off the house the other day (about 7 years ahead of the mortgage schedule).

Big, no GIANT, congrats.

I can still recall the sense of accomplishment that I felt 10-12 years ago when I figured out, and acted on, this crazy idea of paying off the mortgage with that stash of cash that was just sitting there in my MMF.

 

[tuixiu]

Huge, absolutely huge! The snowball starts to grow....

 

[ejman]

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.

Congratulations! Eliminating all debt was such a big part of my own ER experience that quite frankly I struggle to understand how it sometimes seems to become such a contentious issue. For myself, the zero debt made such a nice sleep well at night comfort blanket that all of my trepidation before ER seems for naught!

 

[Darryl]

Congratulations Chinaco!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Great accomplishment

 

[rayvt]

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.

Easy.

We are retired and have a mortgage and 2 car payments. One of our portfolios has 35 different dividend-paying stocks and preferred stocks. The total value is approximately equal to our mortgage balance. The dividend income is also approximately equal to the mortgage & car payments.

The cars will be paid off in 4-5 years, reducing our payments by about $1000/mo. The mortgage in another couple of decades (should I live that long.)

The preferreds were bought at a discount, and had an average built-in capital gain of about 15%-20%.

OTOH, my neighbor isn't so lucky. They have a paid-off house and 2 paid-off cars. And he's working part-time at the local marina to make ends meet.

 

[sirion]

Congratulations! I hope to be posting a message like this is 15 years or so. We are planning to pay down our mortgage (currently $295k at 5.25%) once our childcare expenses go down. We have a PT nanny right now that we pay about $10,000/year for our child. Once our daughter is in school full-time (Jan 2011) we'll start paying that extra $10k to the mortgage and have it paid off in 15 years. I can't wait!

 

[Fireup2020]

Congratulations!

An inspiration to those of us working towards that!