I don't think anyone would argue having a home free and clear - I know for damn sure I wouldn't.... but I'm also RETIRED.....
I think my point was that he should NOT do any fancy financing schemes to try to gain a little... and perhaps put himself at risk.... WHEN it's just so simple to throw extra at the principal.
His rate is under 4%.... fixed 30 years. You have any idea how good that could look 10 years from now? OMG.....
There are more ways than you can imagine to be SECURE and comfortable than to simply have no mortgage... and in fact -- I could argue endlessly why I would NOT want to be mortgage free prior to or even after retirement. That is all based on your ability to generate income.
People worry about their mortgage so much - they fail to realize that they NEED LIQUIDITY. A home isn't liquid if you get sick and lose your job... and having it paid for won't help you one bit when you have to take out cash or refi - when you don't have income or other assets.
Instead -- What I'd suggest is to cut your mortgage interest paid by adding extra payments to principal AND investing in other liquid assets that can be instantly and painlessly accessed should you need to.
In other words -- if you owed 100K and you have 200K in other cash based assets.... I'd say you should not be worried about making the mortgage payment. And you can borrow cash on cash for a hell of a lot cheaper than ANY mortgage should you need some.
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