If you were to inherit $2 million, would you pay off the remaining $150k of your very low interest mortgage?

[Anonymous]

I’ve had an extremely good 2023 and 2024 in the stock market netting high 7 figures. I had a 2.75% mortgage on my “primary” home in NOVA and paid it off. It was chump change anyway relatively. This is an individual decision. Yes I could of kept that money working in the market but in the grand scheme of things it was so little I just didn’t care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is kind of an interesting question from the perspective of economic class. Like most people, I will never be worth $2 million and don't have any living relatives worth that much (our parents are dead anyway). I owe over $100k on my low interest mortgage and probably WOULD pay it off if I magically came into a huge windfall.

My reasoning is this: In my tiny experience, life has a way of chewing away at any money that might accumulate. An unexpected layoff, child's medical emergency, parental dementia, broken cars. At some point down the road, I know that the money will be all gone and the best move I can make for my mood is to remove that mortgage debt hanging over my head.

It's not rational but I know I'm not as clever as most of the folks on DCUM.

it is indeed a very very class based response. yours is a mentality of someone who will never create wealth and never teach your children how to create wealth. This is because you come from a scarcity mindset and have an emotional bond with money. Money sis. tool to create more resources not a resource ti spend down. you never spend more money than you are creating after you get to a certain point.

Whatever helps you sleep at night, bro. DP. MANY, MANY rich people carry no mortgage—at least on their primary residence, if not on all of their properties. I know a guy who is a C-level exec at one of the biggest Fortune 500 companies in the DC area, and he has previously held the same position with other Fortune 100 companies. He has no mortgage. Each of his stints lasts 3-4 years, and he is never sure if he will get another one (though he has been lucky to date). He makes a ton but is never sure if it will last. Plus, anyone can get MeToo'ed or DEI'ed out of a job with almost no notice.

The same mindset applies to other high-earners like business owners. Businesses don't last forever, and good times do not always abound. These owners are more than happy to take the safe return of a paid-off house to balance out the inherent risk of being self-employed and having an irregular income—and it's not like they don't also have sizable investments in the market as well.

[Anonymous]

Paying off my mortgage early would still leave me with about $20K/year in insurance and taxes to keep my house and so paying off the mortgage early wouldn’t really give me peace of mind. Just one more reason I won’t pay off my mortgage early (which I could do).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is kind of an interesting question from the perspective of economic class. Like most people, I will never be worth $2 million and don't have any living relatives worth that much (our parents are dead anyway). I owe over $100k on my low interest mortgage and probably WOULD pay it off if I magically came into a huge windfall.

My reasoning is this: In my tiny experience, life has a way of chewing away at any money that might accumulate. An unexpected layoff, child's medical emergency, parental dementia, broken cars. At some point down the road, I know that the money will be all gone and the best move I can make for my mood is to remove that mortgage debt hanging over my head.

It's not rational but I know I'm not as clever as most of the folks on DCUM.

it is indeed a very very class based response. yours is a mentality of someone who will never create wealth and never teach your children how to create wealth. This is because you come from a scarcity mindset and have an emotional bond with money. Money sis. tool to create more resources not a resource ti spend down. you never spend more money than you are creating after you get to a certain point.

Whatever helps you sleep at night, bro. DP. MANY, MANY rich people carry no mortgage—at least on their primary residence, if not on all of their properties. I know a guy who is a C-level exec at one of the biggest Fortune 500 companies in the DC area, and he has previously held the same position with other Fortune 100 companies. He has no mortgage. Each of his stints lasts 3-4 years, and he is never sure if he will get another one (though he has been lucky to date). He makes a ton but is never sure if it will last. Plus, anyone can get MeToo'ed or DEI'ed out of a job with almost no notice.

The same mindset applies to other high-earners like business owners. Businesses don't last forever, and good times do not always abound. These owners are more than happy to take the safe return of a paid-off house to balance out the inherent risk of being self-employed and having an irregular income—and it's not like they don't also have sizable investments in the market as well.

As a RE business owner tied up to rentals, I prefer to diversify my portfolio by maintaining healthy CDs/brokerage/401k accounts. If I have a really bad string of years, this cash will help me staying afloat. Not sure how prepaying the mortgage would make me feel more secure: I’ll gave to borrow against equity which is 7.5% at the moment

[Anonymous]

No. We have a windfall coming from a trust and my plan is to put it aside for my kids - down payments/wedding funds.

We have a 400k mortgage at 3%. We obviously could use the money to upgrade our house or lifestyle but my plan is to put it aside to give my kids the same gifts that were given to me in adulthood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is kind of an interesting question from the perspective of economic class. Like most people, I will never be worth $2 million and don't have any living relatives worth that much (our parents are dead anyway). I owe over $100k on my low interest mortgage and probably WOULD pay it off if I magically came into a huge windfall.

My reasoning is this: In my tiny experience, life has a way of chewing away at any money that might accumulate. An unexpected layoff, child's medical emergency, parental dementia, broken cars. At some point down the road, I know that the money will be all gone and the best move I can make for my mood is to remove that mortgage debt hanging over my head.

It's not rational but I know I'm not as clever as most of the folks on DCUM.

it is indeed a very very class based response. yours is a mentality of someone who will never create wealth and never teach your children how to create wealth. This is because you come from a scarcity mindset and have an emotional bond with money. Money sis. tool to create more resources not a resource ti spend down. you never spend more money than you are creating after you get to a certain point.

Whatever helps you sleep at night, bro. DP. MANY, MANY rich people carry no mortgage—at least on their primary residence, if not on all of their properties. I know a guy who is a C-level exec at one of the biggest Fortune 500 companies in the DC area, and he has previously held the same position with other Fortune 100 companies. He has no mortgage. Each of his stints lasts 3-4 years, and he is never sure if he will get another one (though he has been lucky to date). He makes a ton but is never sure if it will last. Plus, anyone can get MeToo'ed or DEI'ed out of a job with almost no notice.

The same mindset applies to other high-earners like business owners. Businesses don't last forever, and good times do not always abound. These owners are more than happy to take the safe return of a paid-off house to balance out the inherent risk of being self-employed and having an irregular income—and it's not like they don't also have sizable investments in the market as well.

This is why we paid it off - DH is always wary of layoffs. I heard that Dell laid off a dozen people in the Austin office last November and the common denominators were: white, male and 50+

[Anonymous]

I mean, yes. It's so personal though. But also, my mortgage rate is 4.25%, so low but not rock bottom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is kind of an interesting question from the perspective of economic class. Like most people, I will never be worth $2 million and don't have any living relatives worth that much (our parents are dead anyway). I owe over $100k on my low interest mortgage and probably WOULD pay it off if I magically came into a huge windfall.

My reasoning is this: In my tiny experience, life has a way of chewing away at any money that might accumulate. An unexpected layoff, child's medical emergency, parental dementia, broken cars. At some point down the road, I know that the money will be all gone and the best move I can make for my mood is to remove that mortgage debt hanging over my head.

It's not rational but I know I'm not as clever as most of the folks on DCUM.

it is indeed a very very class based response. yours is a mentality of someone who will never create wealth and never teach your children how to create wealth. This is because you come from a scarcity mindset and have an emotional bond with money. Money sis. tool to create more resources not a resource ti spend down. you never spend more money than you are creating after you get to a certain point.

Whatever helps you sleep at night, bro. DP. MANY, MANY rich people carry no mortgage—at least on their primary residence, if not on all of their properties. I know a guy who is a C-level exec at one of the biggest Fortune 500 companies in the DC area, and he has previously held the same position with other Fortune 100 companies. He has no mortgage. Each of his stints lasts 3-4 years, and he is never sure if he will get another one (though he has been lucky to date). He makes a ton but is never sure if it will last. Plus, anyone can get MeToo'ed or DEI'ed out of a job with almost no notice.

The same mindset applies to other high-earners like business owners. Businesses don't last forever, and good times do not always abound. These owners are more than happy to take the safe return of a paid-off house to balance out the inherent risk of being self-employed and having an irregular income—and it's not like they don't also have sizable investments in the market as well.

This is why we paid it off - DH is always wary of layoffs. I heard that Dell laid off a dozen people in the Austin office last November and the common denominators were: white, male and 50+

If you’re worried about being laid off and the lack of cash flow wouldn’t you rather have money, liquid, in your bank account?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Paying off my mortgage early would still leave me with about $20K/year in insurance and taxes to keep my house and so paying off the mortgage early wouldn’t really give me peace of mind. Just one more reason I won’t pay off my mortgage early (which I could do).

exactly. It's less money in the bank to pay other bills, especially if you get laid off.

[Anonymous]

Yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is kind of an interesting question from the perspective of economic class. Like most people, I will never be worth $2 million and don't have any living relatives worth that much (our parents are dead anyway). I owe over $100k on my low interest mortgage and probably WOULD pay it off if I magically came into a huge windfall.

My reasoning is this: In my tiny experience, life has a way of chewing away at any money that might accumulate. An unexpected layoff, child's medical emergency, parental dementia, broken cars. At some point down the road, I know that the money will be all gone and the best move I can make for my mood is to remove that mortgage debt hanging over my head.

It's not rational but I know I'm not as clever as most of the folks on DCUM.

it is indeed a very very class based response. yours is a mentality of someone who will never create wealth and never teach your children how to create wealth. This is because you come from a scarcity mindset and have an emotional bond with money. Money sis. tool to create more resources not a resource ti spend down. you never spend more money than you are creating after you get to a certain point.

Whatever helps you sleep at night, bro. DP. MANY, MANY rich people carry no mortgage—at least on their primary residence, if not on all of their properties. I know a guy who is a C-level exec at one of the biggest Fortune 500 companies in the DC area, and he has previously held the same position with other Fortune 100 companies. He has no mortgage. Each of his stints lasts 3-4 years, and he is never sure if he will get another one (though he has been lucky to date). He makes a ton but is never sure if it will last. Plus, anyone can get MeToo'ed or DEI'ed out of a job with almost no notice.

The same mindset applies to other high-earners like business owners. Businesses don't last forever, and good times do not always abound. These owners are more than happy to take the safe return of a paid-off house to balance out the inherent risk of being self-employed and having an irregular income—and it's not like they don't also have sizable investments in the market as well.

This is why we paid it off - DH is always wary of layoffs. I heard that Dell laid off a dozen people in the Austin office last November and the common denominators were: white, male and 50+

If you’re worried about being laid off and the lack of cash flow wouldn’t you rather have money, liquid, in your bank account?

+1 how will the ^PP pay the insurance and property taxes? DH was forced into retirement (ie ageism) in tech - yep, white male. He talked about paying off the house. The rate is only 2.75%. There is no way we can get any kid of loan now for 2.75%. Luckily, we have a good amount of cash savings and investment, and I'm still working. But who knows.. I might get laid off, too, since I am 55+.

That $150K can last us more than a year in expenses, including the mortgage. If we paid it off, it would only save us $1400/mo. I still have to come up with $9K/mo to pay for other expenses. If you use that $150K to pay off the mortgage, now I won't have that to pay for the other expenses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is kind of an interesting question from the perspective of economic class. Like most people, I will never be worth $2 million and don't have any living relatives worth that much (our parents are dead anyway). I owe over $100k on my low interest mortgage and probably WOULD pay it off if I magically came into a huge windfall.

My reasoning is this: In my tiny experience, life has a way of chewing away at any money that might accumulate. An unexpected layoff, child's medical emergency, parental dementia, broken cars. At some point down the road, I know that the money will be all gone and the best move I can make for my mood is to remove that mortgage debt hanging over my head.

It's not rational but I know I'm not as clever as most of the folks on DCUM.

it is indeed a very very class based response. yours is a mentality of someone who will never create wealth and never teach your children how to create wealth. This is because you come from a scarcity mindset and have an emotional bond with money. Money sis. tool to create more resources not a resource ti spend down. you never spend more money than you are creating after you get to a certain point.

Whatever helps you sleep at night, bro. DP. MANY, MANY rich people carry no mortgage—at least on their primary residence, if not on all of their properties. I know a guy who is a C-level exec at one of the biggest Fortune 500 companies in the DC area, and he has previously held the same position with other Fortune 100 companies. He has no mortgage. Each of his stints lasts 3-4 years, and he is never sure if he will get another one (though he has been lucky to date). He makes a ton but is never sure if it will last. Plus, anyone can get MeToo'ed or DEI'ed out of a job with almost no notice.

The same mindset applies to other high-earners like business owners. Businesses don't last forever, and good times do not always abound. These owners are more than happy to take the safe return of a paid-off house to balance out the inherent risk of being self-employed and having an irregular income—and it's not like they don't also have sizable investments in the market as well.

This 1000%

Once you hit a certain level, it's just less stress and so much easier to not have a mortgage. You pay your insurance yearly and the property tax yearly (or every 6 months) and that's it. When your home is a small portion of your "net worth" you likely already have enough in the market.
Me personally, it's not worth the hassle of doing all the documentation to get a mortgage, to have a 5% loan that might switch who I pay every 5-6 months (Last mortgage we had 10+ years ago was constantly sold, each time you had to re-establish the autopay and communications and ensure nothing was paid late when that happened).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Paying off my mortgage early would still leave me with about $20K/year in insurance and taxes to keep my house and so paying off the mortgage early wouldn’t really give me peace of mind. Just one more reason I won’t pay off my mortgage early (which I could do).

Obviously---you will never get rid of insurance and taxes, but that is way lower than having a mortgage. Also, those don't get sold/change hands, and you can pay them one time per year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is kind of an interesting question from the perspective of economic class. Like most people, I will never be worth $2 million and don't have any living relatives worth that much (our parents are dead anyway). I owe over $100k on my low interest mortgage and probably WOULD pay it off if I magically came into a huge windfall.

My reasoning is this: In my tiny experience, life has a way of chewing away at any money that might accumulate. An unexpected layoff, child's medical emergency, parental dementia, broken cars. At some point down the road, I know that the money will be all gone and the best move I can make for my mood is to remove that mortgage debt hanging over my head.

It's not rational but I know I'm not as clever as most of the folks on DCUM.

it is indeed a very very class based response. yours is a mentality of someone who will never create wealth and never teach your children how to create wealth. This is because you come from a scarcity mindset and have an emotional bond with money. Money sis. tool to create more resources not a resource ti spend down. you never spend more money than you are creating after you get to a certain point.

Whatever helps you sleep at night, bro. DP. MANY, MANY rich people carry no mortgage—at least on their primary residence, if not on all of their properties. I know a guy who is a C-level exec at one of the biggest Fortune 500 companies in the DC area, and he has previously held the same position with other Fortune 100 companies. He has no mortgage. Each of his stints lasts 3-4 years, and he is never sure if he will get another one (though he has been lucky to date). He makes a ton but is never sure if it will last. Plus, anyone can get MeToo'ed or DEI'ed out of a job with almost no notice.

The same mindset applies to other high-earners like business owners. Businesses don't last forever, and good times do not always abound. These owners are more than happy to take the safe return of a paid-off house to balance out the inherent risk of being self-employed and having an irregular income—and it's not like they don't also have sizable investments in the market as well.

This 1000%

Once you hit a certain level, it's just less stress and so much easier to not have a mortgage. You pay your insurance yearly and the property tax yearly (or every 6 months) and that's it. When your home is a small portion of your "net worth" you likely already have enough in the market.
Me personally, it's not worth the hassle of doing all the documentation to get a mortgage, to have a 5% loan that might switch who I pay every 5-6 months (Last mortgage we had 10+ years ago was constantly sold, each time you had to re-establish the autopay and communications and ensure nothing was paid late when that happened).

I was about to say this, because no one else had said it up until now when you did... No mortgage means no lien on your house, no dealing with mortgage servicers, no exposure to screwups. Lost income of say 2% on $150K is $3000/year or $250/month. Bystanders who wouldn't blink at your spending an extra $250/month to get some incremental luxury will chide you for not eking out the same amount in extra income, but in fact forgoing income for peace-of-mind is a legitimate decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, we didn't inherit and paid off our mortgage. Its freeing.

Exactly.

If put the amount left on the mortgage in a HYSA that makes 1.25% more than my mortgage, set it on autopay, and forget about it (unless I need he cash), how is that any less freeing?