As I sadly watch my stock portfolio go down the tubes due to reciprocal tariffs and retaliation from China, I find serenity in my paid-off home. No matter how much the stock market tanks, it's comforting to know I'll always have shelter to take care of my family.
It's funny, but only active investors, finance professionals, people in charge of their family's investments, or personal finance enthusiasts may feel a heightened sense of stress during stock market corrections. If you practice buying the dip, as I always do, it can feel like repeated mental warfare as the stock market keeps dipping, making you feel like a fool.
Imagine betting on red 15 times in a row in roulette, only for black to show up every time. That’s exactly what this latest correction feels like. Eventually, a win will come—but by then, the losses may already be too steep. Plenty of hedge funds and individual investors on margin will lose everything in this latest bear market.
For my wife, who doesn't regularly follow the stock market, this latest correction has had little effect on her mood. Meanwhile, my young kids are blissfully unaware of the rising risks of a stagflation and the looming mass layoffs. They just want to play and have fun.
For me, I've had to work hard to not let weeks of non-stop stock market declines negatively affect my mood with my family. It hasn't been easy, as I've found myself being less patient than usual. This latest discomfort is a good reminder of why I prefer real estate over stocks to build wealth. At this age, I’m all about slow and steady returns.
If you are responsible for your household's finances and don't enjoy losing a lot of money quickly in the stock market, consider paying off your house. I've paid off several houses over the past 10 years, and I've never regretted any of them.
The Value Of A Paid-Off Home Is Greater Than Just Money
When mortgage rates are low, some people like to make fun of those with paid-off houses. Even though ~40% of homeowners have no mortgage, these critics somehow think those without one are foolish. “You could make a lot more money in stocks and other investments by having a mortgage and not paying it off!” is their most common criticism.
While it's certainly true that leveraging a mortgage can lead to greater potential returns, critics fail to recognize the value a paid-off house provides: reduced stress and greater peace of mind. The older I get, the less I want to owe financial institutions money. Instead, I want to simplify my life with fewer bills and less debt.
To me, the feeling of financial security is worth far more than potentially earning an extra 4-8% a year in stocks. And that’s assuming things go well. Sometimes, investments underperform cash, Treasury bonds, and real estate. Sometimes, you can even lose a lot of money instead, as the government is OK with tanking the stock market to help homeowners.
With a paid-off home, no one can force you to leave if you don’t want to. Meanwhile, each month without a mortgage payment improves your cash flow, giving you more flexibility and peace of mind. What a wonderful situation to be in, especially with the specter of recession looming.
Those Who Criticize Homeowners Without A Mortgage
What I’ve also realized about people who mock those with paid-off homes is this: How many of them could afford to pay off their homes themselves? I doubt it’s more than 50%. After all, one of the main reasons people invest is to eventually buy and pay off a home.
So maybe those who criticize homeowners without mortgages secretly want to be mortgage-free too but don’t have the means. And because they can’t pay off their own homes, the only thing left to do is criticize those who have. Such is human nature – trying to bring others down to inflate their own status.
As the percentage of your home equity rises, your feeling of financial uncertainty declines. In fact, the more certainty you feel, the more confidence you will have in buying the dip when uncertainty is highest. When that final mortgage payment is made, the feeling of financial achievement is priceless.
A Paid-Off Home Can Appreciate as Well
Here’s the thing about your paid-off home, it can make you money or save you from losing a lot of money as well.
In normal times, real estate tends to appreciate by 3-5% annually. Sure, that's lower than the S&P 500’s historical 10% return. But 3-5% appreciation on a large investment can generate a far greater absolute return than what your stock portfolio delivers. And if you take on mortgage debt, the cash-on-cash return is higher.
During downturns, real estate tends to hold its value well as investors seek the safety of bonds and tangible assets that generate income. Instead of appreciating 3-5%, real estate might only rise 0-3%, while stocks could easily decline 5-20%. However, since you’re not paying rent, your effective return is actually higher by the market net rental yield.
Finally, in severe downturns, both real estate and stocks decline. But while residential real estate might drop 20% over several years in a realistic worst-case scenario, stocks can crash 50% within months. And yet, since homeowners aren’t checking a daily ticker symbol, the experience feels far less stressful. Further, homeowners get to enjoy their homes.
When you own a paid-off house, appreciation rates—whether up or down—don’t affect you nearly as much. Instead, your focus is on living your best life while pushing money into the background. Conversely, the end game for investing in stocks is to make a profit to buy something enjoyable. Hence, all the volatility can be distracting.
Paying all cash for a house comes with a psychological hurdle, but in my experience, the peace of mind is well worth it. Just imagine losing 20% of your net worth in a week if you were 100% long stocks in 2025.
A Paid-Off Home Gives You Confidence To Live Better
We all need food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. If we can lock in our shelter costs, everything else becomes much more affordable. And if you take it a step further by fully paying off your home, you’ll find yourself living with greater confidence and freedom. This confidence you gain from being mortgage-free is one of the best reasons to pay off a low-interest rate mortgage.
Want to take a sabbatical? Go for it! Dying to leave your job for one that fits your passions but pays less? No problem. Want to aggressively buy the S&P 500 dip? You bet. Thinking of finally starting a family? Just make sure they are the one. The tappable equity in your home is an incredible source of wealth.
Yes, over the long run, investing in stocks will likely generate greater returns. That’s why the vast majority of homeowners invest in stocks as well. But during downturns and recessions, a paid-off house shines the brightest. If you have one, embrace it. If you don’t, recognize its value.
Sometimes I forget I have a paid-off house—it’s human nature to take what you have for granted. It’s good to remind yourself what your mortgage or rent payment would be. But I’m quickly reminded that even without a mortgage, the bills never stop, especially when maintenance costs and property taxes come due. Fortunately, they’re manageable.
I certainly don’t want our economy to collapse. Financially, I’d love nothing more than for stocks to rebound and outperform my real estate portfolio. But now that the trade wars have intensified, we must keep some liquidity and our jobs, if we need one. For those with paid-off houses, make sure you enjoy it as everything crumbles around you.
Reader Questions
Do any of you have a paid-off house? If so, how do you feel about being mortgage-free during stock market corrections and economic slowdowns? As you’ve gotten older and wealthier, have you found yourself less focused on always maximizing profits? Why do some people with mortgages criticize homeowners without one?
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We purchased our home in North Carolina with cash in 2019 for $370k. It’s now worth $700k. It can be a great investment as well!
Over the past few years, we’ve been so tempted to refinance and / or upgrade our lifestyle by purchasing a new home in the $1.5M range with a mortgage. Whenever we would get close to submitting an offer, we always decided the security of not having a mortgage is better than a fancy new house. I’m also concerned that we’d have buyers remorse after the initial 12 month “honeymoon period” wears off.
Hey Sam – I always appreciate your perspective and frequently recommend your site (who knows how many take my advice to take yours… lol?). We paid off our primary residence mortgage in 2019 even though we had a low rate of 3.15%. I knew that wasn’t the “smart money” and I didn’t care. I saw that as an anchor to my overall portfolio and every extra dollar I paid was a dollar toward mitigated risk and economic freedom. We had purchased our home in 2005 after selling our home in California and moved to a far less expensive real estate market. We traded a 2 bedroom 1 bath home in Santa Barbara on a 5,000 sf lot for a 3 bedroom 3 bath home on 5 acres for less than half the price. We refinanced a 6.25% 30 year fixed to a 15 year 3.15% fixed in 2012. So we paid off the 15 year note in 7 years, which brought our total mortgage years to 25 including about 10 years on the California home. No regrets. We bought a rental house in 2006 and just recently paid that house off as well. Most of that mortgage was paid by renters over 18 years. In any event, paying off our home was a mental competition and I loved seeing the principal balance drop quickly every month (especially on the 15 year note). Still gotta pay property though… ugh!
We just paid off our mortgage this month. Happy to have done it in 9 years and before turning 45. 6 months ago I took a less stressful and lower paying job knowing the mortgage was soon to be done. It’s definitely a more freeing feeling without the mortgage.
We paid off our home at age 39 and 33, respectively. It was well beneath our means, so it was easy to pay it off. Purchased for 400,000 and now worth 575,000. It’s been 6 years without a mortgage. We then paid cash for a tear-down/lot that is now worth 625,000. Debating whether to take out a $400,000 mortgage on a $1.7M custom build or just save for the full amount. It’s been so nice not having a mortgage that I almost can’t fathom ever getting another one, even if it easily fits the financial samurai guidelines. I’m 45 with 3 kids (5,3, 7 months).
I have a paid off house, became free and clear at 60, I’m 67 and just retired now. I can’t control what happens in the White House so I’ve decided to control what happens in my house.
Best decision my wife and I made was to become totally debt-free. As we continued to work after 60, the money we made we got to keep and invest. It’s amazing how quickly the extra money stacks, when you have no debt.my biggest regret in my working life is how wealthy I’ve made banks by giving them all that money over 45 years of work !!
Not sure why people that don’t have a paid off mortgage insist they’re better off with their money in the market, I get their math argument. They tell me they’re making 3 to 7% on the spread between having invest in the market and what they’re paying on their mortgage payment. But I gotta tell you the peace of mind is phenomenal not worry about what happened in the market today. I’ve asked many people if their house was paid off today, would they go borrow a half million on their house and put that money in the market, usually the answers no.
Tell me the rate and terms and I could be convinced.
As someone who recently turned 50, I have felt an increased desire to be mortgage free. Hence, I have adjusted my investing down and my mortage prepayments up. I agree with your sentiment in this post 100%!
I don’t think he’ll regret it. You’re still investing, but you’re also paying down debt faster now.
If you haven’t seen this post, it helps you decide how much to pay down debt and invest. It’s my FS DAIR system.
Hi Sam, just wondering if you can breakdown your fundrise portfolio? I just checked my portfolio for last 6 months and its only 2.6% gain vs your 5.6%.
Do you invest in Credit and Venture? They have done well with rates high and AI companies like Anthropic raising a new round at $60 billion versus $10 billion last year.
I only have 20% in private credit and 80% in real estate. I only opened fundrise mostly for the real estate exposure. Is the majority of your fundrise portfolio in Venture and credit?
Hi Sam, Retired 10 years the paid off house is 8% of wealth and property & school taxes are $2000. Currently on Big Island for 7 months of SCUBA and fun. About to lease 1.2 million condo for $30,000 May into November 2026. Example property taxes and HOA on these condos are $29,000 per year. The area is Waikoloa beach 1000 steps to beach & shops and 15 minute drive to scuba boat. Keep SMiling !
We paid off our mortgage in 2020 after I was laid off for a short period when the world got silly for a little bit. It felt good to not have that to worry about. I don’t think I’ll ever go back. We were running out of space (5 little ones ages 1-8) so now we are adding on and remodeling, the goal is to complete the project with cash. One down side is the project is large so they uncapped my property taxes. I will jump from around $5k/yr to most likely around $12k/yr since it will capture all the growth/inflation the past 5 years. It will definitely be easier to swallow without a large mortgage payment, and since we live in the country on a large parcel of land we can offset property taxes with the crop farm rent.
I will say it has been difficult to dump large portions of cash into our house project that we worked so hard to save for, but we don’t plan on leaving so it feels like the right thing to do.
During our accumulation phase, we had a 3.3% mortgage. But once we hit FI, we paid off that mortgage. Nothing like peace of mind. Work more, work less, quit work…it doesn’t matter, our mortgage was gone.
Last year I joined the “no mortgage” club. Since I have an old house (no HOAs), that was renovated with cash while I kept the mortgage, most of it is new now and so maintenance is low. Also have low property taxes. Since I’m retiring this year, it works out really well. I was also inspired by my Father-in- Law who paid off his house in 7 years by taking on three jobs for a time.
The peace of mind really is there. The only downside I can think of is that when your house is just the way you want it, you don’t want to move. But past a certain age that likely doesn’t matter.
The only thing I’ll say is that a paid off mortgage isn’t the only expense ! This year, I had to put on a new roof and my property insurance is almost 4K in Florida and keeps going up !
True. But good thing you owned that new roof and it should provide you good coverage for the next 20 years.
Another comment or below said her insurance is $15,000 a year. So $4000 a year sounds relatively good!
I see too much short term bias for a lot of investors. A 10% pull back in the stock market after it has gone up nearly 50% in the last two years is not only well overdue but expected. In any given year a 10-15% drawdown is well within 1 standard deviation. I don’t see anything that is not normal market behavior other than the catalyst.
The taxes on my primary residence are currently $22,000 a year and the insurance is about $15,000 a year. I can tell you that after losing my job I am not at all feeling financially secure because of my paid off house. With only $100,000 in investments in the stock market (approximate value today), I really wish that I had more there because I am going to have to sell basically all of my liquid investments or my extremely profitable second home to be able to afford to pay for my paid-off house. I can choose to cancel the insurance, but the tax bill is still due March 31, the power still needs to be on, and repairs need to be made as they arise.
Ouch, $15,000 a year in insurance is a lot. Do you own a home in Florida or a high risk zone?
I hear you on the future of being house rich cash, poor. But hopefully that will motivate you to boost your liquidity and save more.
You got this!
Yes, we live in Florida. I read your other article and went the borrowing from my mother route. It worked out surprisingly well as she offered to just pay the taxes for us as a gift to give me time to find a good job and spend more time with her. I guess I should be reading your articles more often!
I’m glad it worked out!
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We have a paid off house. I agree with what you said in your article, Sam. I sleep very well at night knowing that we have a place for our family if needed. We just have to keep the property taxes up. We are retired and it helps our expenses not having a mortgage.
I love the feel of a paid off house, especially the primary residence. However, as I aged and my real estate and investment portfolios grew, I thought less about whether an individual property was paid off, and more about how my loan to value ratio corresponded to my overall investment strategy and peace of mind. I’m now in my early ’50s, partially retired, and think we’re overdue for a financial reset, so my current “peace portfolio” is pretty conservative. Specifically, my real estate LTV is less than 20% and I’m maintaining a bonds/cash after tax portfolio that currently pays more interest than any of my mortgages and could be flipped to pay off all mortgage debt at any time (I refinanced everything in 2020 @ low 30 yr rates). In the meantime, rental income covers all RE costs, including mortgage debt.
As for some mortgage holders criticizing those w/out mortgages, some of it maybe angst and some of it may be well intended. Regardless, I interpret a strong position on any investment decision as an indicator of someone’s current investment philosophy. If I think they’re wealthier than me, I’d ask questions to learn about their philosophy and see if I can learn from them. Otherwise, I’d nod, smile and change the subject to something easier, like politics or religion. :+)
Paid off home equals peace of mind. You can’t put a price on that. Very happy I did it.
“With a paid-off home, no one can force you to leave if you don’t want to.”
If only that were true! You can be forced to leave for many reasons.
For one, you still have to pay property tax, and in some places (hello, Texas), the burden can approach 3% of your home’s current value. Bought it for $200k? Great. But now it’s worth $1M and you gotta come up with $30,000 a year to pay the property tax, even without a mortgage. This kind of thing happened in Calif in the 1970s and is why California has Prop 13.
You still have home maintenance. HOA’s can, per the terms of most CC&Rs, progress to foreclosing on your home if you don’t keep it up to their standards, fail to pay your dues, or rack up enough fines and penalties.
There’s always the risk of an eminent domain claim, where the government will take your house even if you don’t want to sell it. That’s how my father lost his first house back when the interstate highway system was built in the 1950’s.
Age is often the avenue that leads people to be forced out of their homes when they don’t want to. I’ve got an in-law who’s approaching that moment right now.
Bottom line is that if you pay off your mortgage (which is a good idea!), the only method of losing your home that you’ve eliminated is being foreclosed upon by the lein holder.
All good points, but have you ever been forced out of your home after paying it off?
What happened specifically to your in law who is being forced out of their home despite paying it off?
He’s talking eminent domain. It’s true. We ran a interstate through one of the cities I lived in and people’s homes were forcibly bought from them. Many were unable to buy an equivalent house for the amount they got, although in some instances you can bargain to bring up the purchase.
But if they ok eminent domain, you are leaving, like it or not.
She is old enough that she simply cannot live in a multi story house by herself anymore. She doesn’t want to leave it, but has no choice.
Interesting points, but the reference to Prop 13 is what caught my eye. @Sam, as you live in CA and invest in RE there, I’m interested in your perspective on how Prop 13 impacts the CA housing market. It seems to be one of the primary driver of high prices in CA, especially in top markets near the ocean from SFO to SoCal (reduces inventory as folks benefiting from Prop 13 don’t want to sell/move). I was walking around Point Loma last week looking at RE taxes on homes in the $5M-$25M range and was (once again) blown away by yearly tax bills in the $3k – $10k range based on tax assessed values at a small fraction of market value.
Prop 13 is great for long-time homeowners, not great for new homeowners. But after about 10 years of ownership, Prop 13 feels helpful for homeowners.
I don’t think there’s a chance of Prop 13 going away. Maybe amended, but the majority would vote against abolishment.
I think it’s good for everyone. It greatly reduces the odds that you’ll be forced out of your home because — through no fault of your own — your property value and therefore property taxes double, triple, quadruple, or more. Sometimes in a short period of time.
Interestingly, I have family and many friends in Texas. They often mention having no state income tax, but are less sanguine about the property tax. The fact is that states, counties, and cities have government, and that has to be funded one way or another. Different states choose to do it different ways.
California is often derided for its high state income tax (and with good reason, given the mismanagement, fraud, and waste). But given the choice between a property tax and an equivalent income tax, I’d prefer the latter. If I lose my job or retire, the income tax goes away. A property tax never goes away, and states without Prop 13 style protections have, ultimately, no limit on how high that tax can go. Even if sky-high property taxes never materialize, it’s always a possibility, and that would make it difficult to feel that I really “own” my property.
What % of your net worth do you put towards alt RE investments like Funrise?
I’d like to allocate between 10% to 20% of my net worth into alternative investments like venture capital and private real estate, which Fundrise both has. I am positive on both, which is why I really like Fundrise.
Ben Miller, the CEO and I, are the same age who went through the same type of financial trauma of going through the global financial crisis, and a very similar type of cautious but methodical outlook. You can listen to some of our conversations on my podcast on Apple or Spotify.
Here’s a post with an embedded latest discussion with Ben on how chaos, uncertainty, and fear are good for real estate investors.
Can you write a post expiring the idea of Someone with a high w2 buying real estate with a large money down 50-70% down payment and aggressively paying it off with rental money and my own work money. Building a portfolio of rental real estate with no mortgages? Comparing that to the stock market ? direct ownership of the rental re
Marek
It might be best for you to write a guest post about your situation. I found that writing things out really helps make things more clear.
I used to have a high-end house but traded it for an average primary residence and a rental. When I got married, we kept my husband’s house as a rental, taking us up to three houses. We have just about paid off this house, and my husband is encouraging me to think about early retirement. I sometimes have FOMO about not owning a McMansion, but I disliked all of the costs that came along with maintaining an older home. We love the income from our two rentals and the fact that all three houses are renovated.
One of the easiest ways to get over your FOMO of owning a McMansion is to ask yourself why you wanna own a mansion, and then go visit your friend who owns a McMansion.
I have a friend who owns a $18 million house, and he is traumatized by it due to all the leaks and maintenance issues over the past eight years. And because I know what it takes to maintain and fix a McMansion, I no longer want to own a McMansion.
But here’s a thing, so long as you buy the McMansion within some appropriate buying guidelines, you’ll actually enjoy it because the burden of maintaining it won’t stress you out.
That’s right. I know too many people with McMansions with deferred maintenance and renovation needs due to the high costs of tackling both. To me, that’s a ticking time bomb. If we buy again, it will be with the full knowledge of the costs and timelines required to renovate and maintain houses.
I lived this dilemma until a couple of years ago. I had a 20 year old McMansion on a couple of acres of land. Over time I started taking inventory of what would need to be fixed from a new roof ($75K) kitchen remodel ($50K) HVAC system ($25K) etc. And owning and maintaining that much land required constant upkeep and maintenance. To top that off I was living in a high property tax state. So even though my home was “owned” I still felt like it owned me.
Fast forward a couple of years and I now live in a newly built home which I also own free and clear. I downsized my footprint but actually paid more than I had invested in the prior house. My taxes are now a fraction of what they were. My house is as close to maintenance free as you can get short of living in a condo and my yard requires virtually no upkeep.
The lesson for me is that you can overcome FOMO by realizing what is and isn’t worth investing in. I gave up a much larger custom built home, which I owned free and clear, but in doing so regained a lot of freedom.
RC: We made similar choices. I loved my older McMansion but it was an incredible cash drain and had years of work to be done. Now we have three renovated houses and live for free thanks to rental income.
Holly, totally agree. We have a paid off modest house in a very nice town and sometimes I wonder if I did my family a disservice by not having a bigger, nicer place. However, we also own a nice rental at the beach with great cash flow.
I don’t think you did your kids/family a disservice. Kids seem to be happy living in almost anywhere safe, so longer as there is love and nurture in the home.
My kids have lived in three homes since they were born, each nicer than the next. I see no difference in their joy. But I do feel more SATISFIED as a parent providing the safest and nicest home I can afford for them. To be able to let them play in the front or backyard without strangers coming in or them running onto the streets in a city is PRICELESS thanks to an enclosed front yard.
So we have to differentiate how much the house is for us or for our family. It’s both.
Hey Paula: I think you are living the dream to have a cash-neutral residence and cash-positive beach rental. Any tips? Where did you buy, what, and when? I’m looking at the Outer Banks. Inventory is building but prices are still too high.
Speaking of beach property, you may enjoy this post: The Problem With Beach Front Property: The Ocean
Hi Sam: Definitely not interested in oceanfront. I’m sure you’ve seen the videos of houses in Rodanthe falling into the ocean due to beach erosion. A few houses back or soundfront in another OBX town would be great.
https://www.wral.com/story/outer-banks-home-falls-into-ocean-sixth-collapse-in-rodanthe-this-year/21724102/
I have a lot of respect and admiration for those who are responsible with their debt and reach the incredible goal of paying off their mortgage. I totally agree with the benefits of reduced stress and freedom.
I have a relative who had every chance of sticking to a budget throughout her adult life and paying down debt responsibly, but she still has a six-figure mortgage at age 78 because she refused to take her finances seriously and kept taking out HELOCs for decades. And she’s definitely not the only one who’s gotten into financial trouble like this and not been able to get out.
If you have young children or relatives, it’s so worth it to instill good financial habits and values in them early. It can truly set them up for life and bring them actual relief and enjoyment in their later adult life.
Currently paying 2% on year 3 of a 15 year mortgage. I have cash to pay off the mortgage if I want. I struggle with the allure of a paid off home versus paying a mortgage with significantly cheaper money as inflation continues its inexorable march forward. Regarding the topic, there is no “right” answer for everyone, the answer that is right for me is most important.
I hear your dilemma. And I have a post about it upcoming.
If you still have a target minimum exposure to equities or whatever else you want after paying off your mortgage, I still would. If you don’t, then keep it. Such cheap money.
Maybe buy treasuries (risk-free) for the exact same duration with the money? It would take some mental gymnastics but I think you could convince yourself that you really don’t have a mortgage as the treasuries essentially cancel out the loan in terms of risk.
Yes!!! You’ve hit the nail on the head. It makes no sense to pay off the 2% mortgage when the risk free rate is 4.5%. Just open a high yield savings account and call it the “mortgage offset” account and put any money you would have put into the mortgage in there instead. When the balances equal, pay it off! (And if risk free rates go down below 2% in the meantime, just dump whatever is the HYSA into the mortgage.) Literally no way to lose here since we are talking strictly risk-free savings.
Exactly what I’m doing. Though the money I’m saving isn’t life changing, it’s nice to be using inflation as an ally, as it applies to my mortgage.
I agree. Might as well arbitrage it. But I will say that it does feel awesome to have one less bill to pay and deal with. today
I guess I am an outlier here. Using arbitrage and leverage when it comes to primary house (gotta live somewhere so might as well make it work as hard as I do) just seems right.
I would be upset with myself if I looked at the “wasted opportunity cost” of the money tied up in an illiquid investment like a house. I can sleep and live in the house whether I own 1% or 100%. I believe there are just better alternatives for the money.
When the cost (i.e. Mortgage) is 2.25% I really don’t care if it is ever paid off.
You are an outlier if you are financially independent or retired and would still prefer to carry mortgage debt on your primary and pay it off IMO.
Almost every FI person I know I real life does not have a mortgage anymore.
If you are FI with a mortgage, what more financially are you looking to achieve?
Thx
Found your precious comment that has helped give me perspective:
“ At 60, I was ready and able to be done. However saw that company I was with was in trouble. As company did have a history of offering severance as incentive; I decided to bide my time and see what transpires. Sure enough, 3 months later, company offered six month salary and health insurance to those of us over 59 with at least 5 yrs service. Plus I was then eligible for 6 months “unemployment” at $800/week for 26 weeks in Oregon.
All in at my level, I estimated value of entire package at well over $145k.
Not too shabby for being ready to retire anyway eh?
You are correct in that it kind of felt like a lottery win”
I could easily pay off this mortgage 30 times over I guess. It probably all means nothing in grand scheme, I just see No point in not having this mortgage. I will be moving to another part of the country and if it makes sense at the time, I’ll gladly get another mortgage even though I’m “retired.”
If you can pay off the mortgage 30 times over, then I would just get rid of it. It feels great to have one less debt account to deal with.
Interesting thoughts but I just can’t do it. Using someone else’s money at 2,25% for another 12 yrs is just too cheap to give up.
I paid off a previous home a decade ago. Didn’t make me feel anything special.
Appreciate the column, you helped me think better about finance, wealth and life.
We don’t have to agree on ever.
I’m enjoying my paid off home too during this time. I have a kid on the way and am likely to lose my job this year. It’s a little stressful, but the paid off home makes it less stressful.
“But if that’s what it takes for egg prices to drop and for our aluminum and steel industries to be saved, then so be it”
I’m still waiting to hear the compelling case for why our aluminum industry needs to be “saved”. Aluminum smelting is extremely toxic and what’s the stat I saw a couple of days ago. We “save” 30,000 jobs but there are ~800,000 that are reliant on aluminum being inexpensive…so what are we doing here exactly? Maybe that was steel. Same point though.
You don’t like giving up 10% of your portfolio gains and potentially losing your job or 50% lower prices so far since the peak? Think about how many more omelettes you can eat Everyday now!
Hi Sam –
I am a fan. You can really write and moreover the content is VERY useful to someone with an MBA from a top-25 school.
Enjoyed the article on the psychological benefits of outright home ownership.
My variant of that is that I own my house – as well as the one next door. I probably now have 75% equity across the two. One bought in 2009, the other 2014. And the beauty of it is that the $2695 rent for the other one leaves me with maybe $800 a month total cash outflow across the two mortgages (one at 3 3/8 and the rental at 4 1/4). And I get all the price appreciation on 1.4 acres here in Atlanta that must be worth $1.3M+ – which seems to have averaged basically 8% annually since the purchases. So all that initial leverage on 80% loans has really paid off!