Finally debt free w/mortgage?

[Anonymous]

We've worked our tails off and have finally paid off the last bit of debt we had. So no more car loans, student loans, cc payments, NOTHING.

Can we consider ourselves debt-free even though we still have a mortgage?

[Anonymous]

no

[Anonymous]

I would!

[Anonymous]

I like to think of it as "consumer debt-free."

congratulations!

[Anonymous]

I would too. We are 12 months away from paying off the same debts and we will be left with a mortgage only.

Although you might get to the answer you want to hear if, instead, you can say you are in a positive net position. Then, while technically not debt free, you could be if you needed to be.

[Anonymous]

I think that I'm in debt even though I still have a manageable mortgage. We think of a mortgage as good debt- it allows us to make more money on investments elsewhere instead of paying it off.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely, especially if you have a mortgage you could pay off if you wanted to. I carry my mortgage because it's low interest and I can beat it in the market.

[Anonymous]

Really? Congratulations on paying off the other debt but you are absolutely not debt-free. A mortgage is a debt you owe. Keep going.

[Anonymous]

I just don't get the obsession with paying off the mortgage, especially with interest rates so low. What if you're plowing every available free penny each month into paying it down, but something befalls you before it's paid off? What if no one is employed, or a spouse dies? Then all that money that could have been liquid and in your hands is instead in the house, and good luck getting a loan if you're unemployed.

It's great once it is paid off (I guess, I still disagree on that), but why not pay yourself that extra money each month, keep it walled off, the pay it off with a huge payment when you reach the payoff #? That way if there's catastrophe, you've got cash immediately on hand.

[Anonymous]

We are in the same situation and we consider ourselves debt-free. But we have a good amount of equity in our home (about $400K - almost half its value) and could sell it quickly since we live in such a desirable neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Of course not. Mortgage is the biggest debt there is.

I'm not saying it's wrong to have a mortgage -- I have one also, for tax reasons -- but it's definitely a debt.

[Anonymous]

O, perhaps some financial education.