How old were you when you paid off your home?

[ua_guy]

I don't think age should matter or be a metric of comparison (too many variables) as long as one of two things happen: Your home is paid off by the time you start retirement; or, you have saved and planned so much that renting or paying a mortgage in retirement doesn't cause a hardship with your total projected retirement savings.

My home is paid for and I'm 37. It's a long story that involved taking a little risk and enjoying some dumb luck - bought a short sale with our last dime to afford on housing, owned it for 6 years and the value increased 90%. Husband got a job offer in a much lower cost of living area, so we sold the house, moved, and were able to pay cash for a new house with the equity--in the middle of the country.

While I concur that being mortgage-free is a wonderful feeling, it should be tempered and viewed in the context of one's own goals. Knowing what I do now and having had the experience of moving for work to an area where I never really desired to live (and don't want to be, long-term), I would be 100% okay with having a mortgage again with a goal of paying it off before retirement, if I lived somewhere I loved. I place a very high importance on enjoying youthful earning years (35-65) versus scrimping every penny and putting off the lion's share of fun and enjoyment until retirement. That's my $0.02.

[rennigade]

Ill be 50 when its paid off...so another 13 years. We were fortunate enough to have 0% interest mortgage...so no rush to pay it off.

[disneysteve]

Ill be 50 when its paid off...so another 13 years. We were fortunate enough to have 0% interest mortgage...so no rush to pay it off.

How did you get a 0% mortgage? Was it a personal loan from family?

[bjl584]

How did you get a 0% mortgage? Was it a personal loan from family?

Foreign countries in the EU were offering these, but I never heard of it in the US.
Unless like you said, it's a private lender

[Jluke]

^^
Had a deal with the father in law I believe.

Typically a loan needs to have interest but maybe this arrangement was different and avoided that.

[breathemusic]

*Technically* I just paid it off.... but only because i refinanced so now I've just started a whole new 30 year clock! But at least I got my interest rate down over 1.5% and probably in a few years I'll start making extra payments to work toward paying it off early. My only goal will be to have the mortgage paid off before I retire, but I don't expect to retire for at LEAST 20 more years

[amarowsky]

Paid off when I was 31 (2018).

***Note - I was exceptionally lucky and bought 12/2010. Got the house for $75,000, thankfully it's nearly worth $200k these days (*and after all work I've done to the home). I can't stress how fortunate I was with timing, not that I didn't work hard to accelerate payments, invest, and save accordingly. (and having 3 roommates for the 1st 5 years helped a TON!!!! it used to be quite the party house back in the day )

[riverwed070707]

Surprised more comments aren't focused on how much you will need in retirement vs where you're at and what your short term goals are. Are you maxing your 401k/roth options? Are you on track for when you plan to retire? How old are you now vs when your rental will be paid and is that cash flow part of your strategy for retirement? Paying off debt, particularly mortgages and at today's interest rates is an emotional decision at today's rates. For me personally, I'm somewhere in the middle. At 34 my goal is to maximize retirement contributions (I'm not at the max and never will be) and also to have my rentals paid off in 8 years. At 2.75% interest paying off my primary is not a priority but I'm also not planning to stay here in retirement, while my rentals are part of my retirement income plan hence getting them paid off. If, for you, staying in your primary home is part of your retirement plans, getting it paid off may be more of a priority. At some point (SOON) my rentals will cash flow more than I need for my early retirement goals and paying off the mortgages will just be added spending/saving. At that point, I'll consider myself free to leave my corporate job when needed and my 401k/roth will have another 30 years to grow while I enjoy early retirement.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Surprised more comments aren't focused on how much you will need in retirement vs where you're at and what your short term goals are. Are you maxing your 401k/roth options? Are you on track for when you plan to retire? How old are you now vs when your rental will be paid and is that cash flow part of your strategy for retirement? Paying off debt, particularly mortgages and at today's interest rates is an emotional decision at today's rates. For me personally, I'm somewhere in the middle. At 34 my goal is to maximize retirement contributions (I'm not at the max and never will be) and also to have my rentals paid off in 8 years. At 2.75% interest paying off my primary is not a priority but I'm also not planning to stay here in retirement, while my rentals are part of my retirement income plan hence getting them paid off. If, for you, staying in your primary home is part of your retirement plans, getting it paid off may be more of a priority. At some point (SOON) my rentals will cash flow more than I need for my early retirement goals and paying off the mortgages will just be added spending/saving. At that point, I'll consider myself free to leave my corporate job when needed and my 401k/roth will have another 30 years to grow while I enjoy early retirement.

that is an excellent point. But at the end of the day if it makes you happier then pay off the mortgage more than cash flow.

[Petunia 100]

I have never paid off a mortgage, except due to refi or sale. I'm mortgage free now, but I don't own any real estate.

My daughter and her husband bought half an acre and an older mobile home last year, paying cash for it. They have since put in some sweat equity and the place is now pretty cozy. Their goal is to never owe money on a home or pay any rent ever again. They aren't sure yet if they want to build a home on their property, or buy a different place and sell the one they have, or buy a different place and keep the one they have as a rental. No matter what they decide to do, they will do it with cash.

My daughter will turn 30 next month.

[Smilinggirl]

Isn’t that funny? I can’t remember exactly, but it was 8-10 years ago. I built my new house a few years ago. It’s paid off, but there are always extra expenses with stick built, such as paving the driveway, landscaping etc.. Lately I’ve been thinking about finishing off the basement. I don’t need the space, but it would increase the value for eventual resale. I’d also like to get a nice shed, add a patio, and landscaping is an ongoing project. Part of me wants to spend the money and get things done, another part of me wants to save, save, save.

[myrdale]

33

The mortgage was for $101k. It took me 9 years of hard work.

My case is probably not typical. No wife, no ex-wife, no kids. I could focus only on the debt.

[srblanco7]

Paid off a little over a year ago when I was 50. We had a 2.5% mortgage interest rate, so I was focused on investing, rather than paying down the mortgage. Last year, we noted that we'd accumulated more than enough cash and made the decision to pay off the final $50k before our daughter started college (she left today)!

[amarowsky]

amazing how good it feels when you finally own legal & Equitable title for all the sticks, bricks, and earth that we spend most of our time in... And how easy it is to build monetary inertia once you owe interest to no one.