As I announced recently, I’ve challenged myself to pay off my mortgage way sooner than the standard 30 years everyone seems to prescribe to. The more I think about it, though, the more I wonder if I am just being ridiculus. So I asked a fellow personal writer to come up with several reasons why someone might want to pay off their mortgage early.
Enter Jonny Pean. He tends to believe that debt of any kind is not good for your finances. He says you should shake off debt as fast as possible and live a comfortable, debt-free life. Below are his top five reasons for paying off your mortgage early.
Should You Aim for Early Mortgage Payoff? Potential Reasons for Doing So
If you are having second thoughts about paying off your mortgage early, here are some reasons why you should do so:
1. Peace of mind: The best thing about paying off the mortgage on your house is that you can enjoy peace of mind. For many, a home is a prized possession, one they do not wish to part with just because they fall on hard times. If you should happen to not be able to make your payments down the road, you risk losing it. Therefore, having a house to live in comfortably will provide you the peace of mind.
2. Retirement benefits: After retirement you will not have a stable income to bank upon, and you may not be in a position to continue making mortgage payments at that time. If this would be the case for you, it might be a good idea to pay off your mortgage before retirement, when you can more easily afford it. If, after retiring, you feel that you cannot afford to maintain the home, you can sell it and can shift to a smaller property. Then you could use the extra money for other expenses.
3. Education plans for kids: If you pay off your mortgage early, the amount you pay toward your mortgage each month could be used for other expenses, like college educations for your children. Considering the cost of college, even a modest mortgage payment would not be enough to cover the entire annual tuition, but it would be a wonderful start.
4. Pursuing other dreams: If you pay off your mortgage loan completely, the amount you earn as monthly income later will be there for your expenditure. Without having to worry about your house, you will be able to save up for another large purchase, perhaps a vacation home?
5. Alternative investment options: When you have paid off your mortgage completely you can think of investing in other ways, like starting a new business or buying a property or other asset.
The Main Reason I Want to Pay Off My Mortgage
After reading Jonny’s top five reasons he would want to aim for mortgage payoff, I find that I most agree with reason #1. However, I think the biggest draw for me would be the feeling of accomplishment. I feel like if I could do this, I could do anything, including fulfilling other dreams I have for our future.
How about you? If you want to pay off your mortgage sooner rather than later, what is your primary reason for wanting to do so?
Author bio: Jonny Pean is a financial consultant and writer for EasyFinance.com and FinanceWand.com. He helps people to tackle their financial problems related to loans, personal finance management and home equity issues.
Making Extra Money So You Can Make More Mortgage Payments
My main plan for paying off my mortgage early is to accelerate our family’s income so we can afford to pay EXTRA. Making extra mortgage payments will greatly reduce the amount of overall interest we pay and shorten the length of our loan. I haven’t calculated exactly how much interest we will save if we make a certain number of payments in a while – I need to pull out the calculator and Excel spreadsheet and do that again soon. In the meantime, I am just aiming to make as much extra money as I can from blogging to make bigger payments.
I am using my blogging income as the main source of money for extra mortgage payments, but I know starting a blog isn’t for everyone, so I have lots of other ideas for you to consider! You can find all of the money making ideas on the blog under my Making Extra Cash category and below are a few of my favorite posts to get you going:
- 13 Mason Jar Crafts to Make & Sell for Extra Cash
- 13 Ways to Make Money as a Virtual Assistant to Bloggers
- 50+ Ways to Make Extra Money on the Side
Shelley anderson says
DO IT! We paid ours off in June 2009. Now we have freed up our $ to buy an investment condo (BYU student housing). My plan is to pay it off in 3 years and then we will be making $750/ month passive income after expenses. My dream is to buy 4 more investment condos. Here’s my debt free story if you are interested in reading it http://customslipcoversbyshelley.blogspot.com/2014/04/our-debt-free-ride.html?m=1
Lena Gott says
Thanks for the cheering on, Shelley! I’m off to read your post!