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

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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]To those of you that wouldn't pay off the mortgage, how many times in life do you spend money on yourself that you don't need to spend, like on an expensive vacation, jewelry or a new car? Those expenses are more wasteful than paying off a mortgage.[/quote]

+100

The whole "I'm more interested in optimizing my money" philosophy rings hollow unless you are extremely frugal in all other regards, which many on DCUM are not, as evidenced by all the "We make $350K but live paycheck-to-paycheck" threads.

This is just late-stage bubble stuff that happens after a 16-year bull market, and we've seen this before.  I've watched all of Berkshire Hathaway's annual meetings, and there are instances of Buffett in the late 90s talking about how unrealistic expectations had become, citing a survey showing that investors were now expecting to get 16-17% a year from the market based on returns from the early 80s through the late 90s.  And, of course, shortly thereafter, we began a "lost decade" for stocks.  How many people who inherited $1M in 2008 were likely eager to put it all in the market instead of using a small fraction to secure their family's home and eliminate their largest bill??[/quote]

It does not require extreme “frugality in all regards” to prioritize long term investing over paying off a low interest mortgage as part of smart financial planning.  It’s the recommended strategy by most advisors and has been proven time and again to be the way to go.   It certainly worked for me.  I retired early a decade ago and still have a mortgage.  I’ve always had a mortgage.  I continued investing in the market in 2008 (almost always in index funds) and never panic sold.  It’s paid huge dividends.  I never would be where I am today financially had I made the rash decision to pay off a low interest mortgage instead of making sure my money worked for me.  As I said before, [b]what’s “freeing” is actually having the money to pay off the mortgage whenever you want[/b] - not actually paying it.  And to get to that position you need to invest. [/quote]

Everyone is different. I have the money to pay off my mortgage whenever I want, but I don't feel free.[/quote]

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