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Anonymous wrote:800k mortgage on a 1.4 house. Nothing else.

Nothing else, says the person almost a million dollars in debt!

they didn't say anything about their total net worth, even setting aside the equity in the house which more than covers their debt. You do understand how 800k in unsecured debt (credit cards, student loans) is very different than a loan on an asset where they still have more than 40% equity?

I've got a 1.2 mortgage on a 2.2M house at a 2.5% rate, no other debt. Plenty of assets elsewhere. and to answer someone else's question, PITI is 7100.

This. We have $700k in mortgage debt, on a house worth about $1.3m (or something like that, it may be more, prices are going nuts these days), at 2.625% interest, and no other debt. I have no intention of paying it off before retirement, or even after I retire, at that rate. I suppose we could have prioritized paying it off, but that would have been supremely ill-advised, both in the abstract and as life turned out - we need the greater liquidity to pay for some costly medical treatments and therapies.

The anti-debt evangelicals are just so myopic.

We paid off our house and it’s freeing so we can pay for other thing like medical. The difference is living under our means. Our house is ver small and under $400k, yours is worth three times what ours is.

Not in the DC area, huh?

I don’t know where that poster lives but you can find fixer-uppers in my Silver Spring neighborhood for $400-450k.

Context is important. Just because someone can currently find a home somewhere in the DMV doesn't mean it likely that a person discussing a paid off home is from the DMV.

I wish these posters who stumbled on this board from other areas would preface their location in their response.

Yes, I am. We bought fixer upper that you’d never buy and diy most of it except roof and siding. After a few years refinanced to 15 from a 30 which kept our payment the same but we paid in a few hundred extra each month. Then we recast a few times and always paid the same amount with more going to principal. Not hard to do.

I'm in Arlington. We bought a house for $600,000 in 2003 and were able to put $150,000 down using equity from a condo we bought when we first got married (those shot up in value around here in the late 90's), we refinanced to a 15-year in 2010 when rates were down to about 3 percent--so our payment went up--and now we will be paid off in about 2 more years. People who bought in the DMV from the mid-90s to the mid-2000s benefitted from a big run-up in prices and low rates for refinancing in the 2010s and if you didn't take a lot of money out, you could be paid off or almost paid off by now in your early or mid-fifties.

Also Arlington with a very similar story. $625k home in 2003 with $200k down from previous home. We're mortgage free in our early 50s

43, married with 3 kids.

$260,000 on the house. No other debt.

We could pay off the house today but like having a large taxable brokerage account.

33 year old me wouldn’t believe how far financially we have come.

46yo

450k debt

High NW and can cover debt, but it's at 3.15%, so I'll keep it as we continue the bull market

Anonymous wrote:806k mortgage at 5.875% (it was a great rate when we got it last year, got a 10/1 ARM).

No other debt. HHI $1.7M though we just recently stated making this

How? What do you do?

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Anonymous wrote:How do people have such low mortgage balances in the DC area? Are the people responding people who have owned their homes 20+ years?

I think this thread is getting more responses from people pleased with their lack of debt.

Like me! Zero. Paid off mortgage on $1m property by age 35, paid off $75k student loans by age 27.

I value a debt-minimal life because it allows us to be able to afford private school comfortably on a 250k HHI, as well as decent travel a few times per year. We pay cash for vehicles.

Nothing to be proud of. You poured money into an illiquid vehicle that was likely to appreciate anyway and you could take out extremely cheap debt to cover, missing out on putting all that extra free cash flow into the stock market, which has had a massively historic run up, nearly doubling. You’d have enough cash in the market now to more than pay your house note and would be sitting on - 2.5%-3% rate.

You lost millions in net worth. But at least you can brag about being debt free!

You are probably from family money.

I grew up very, very poor with a lot of insecurity in my life. I now never have to worry about money again. I literally never think about it. It automatically transfers into different accounts and savings vehicles, and I spend what I want, which is modest.

It has been incredibly freeing. I spend my time with my family and friends instead of worrying about managing investment property/funds. It’s wonderful.

You know why I came from family money? Because my parents, grandparents, and great grandparents could all build wealth by utilizing leverage.

I don’t even want that kind of wealth. I don’t want my kids to value wealth above all else. I want them to value education, friendships, and strong values. They have everything they need and some things they want. That is enough.

Very hard cope.

Hmm. But are you happy? I am. I have a strong marriage and great kids.

Money only gets you so far. I know quite a few very wealthy, VERY miserable people. I am happy with my choices.

Cope cope copeity cope, cope cope copeity cope!

If coping is having a great and financially stable life, absolutely.

Why do you feel this way about someone content with less? What about your wealth and life situation makes you feel so aggressively in favor of measuring your worth financially? I am serious. The happy people I know with money don’t do this.

Still with the hard cope, I see.

Both of you have different money scripts. I recommend this:
https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/money-2-0-rewrite-your-money-story/

BTW- neither of you are right or wrong about debt and money.

Until this thread, I forgot I had debt - I really don’t think about it anymore. Owe a little over $400k on a $1.5m home, which I could pay off if I wanted (but prefer earning more than my 2.7% mortgage).

430K on a mortgage at 2.8% and nothing else. Age 32.

$700K mortgage on a house worth $1.35M

No other debt - PSLF wiped out my student loans. We are a dual income household saving close to $250K/year.

49F, single, no kids

Total debt is about 300K. Assets of about 1 million, most of which is my house.

Age 44 married with one kid.

-23k in student loan debt at 2.5%. Could pay this off tomorrow but the rate is so low it seems stupid. It annoys me but is not really a burden.

- 300k mortgage on a home worth maybe 700k. 3%. I would LOVE to move but we are stuck due to interest rate and school. Plan is to move in about 4 years. We have a lot in savings and investments so I'm hoping to either go mortgage free or do a much smaller mortgage for our next home.

Basically I get the point of using borrowing at low rates to build wealth and engage in it but I also loathe owing money and being tied to things for years and years. Spouse and I argue about this a lot because I just have less tolerance for debt (and debt payments) than he does. I want to be debt free before retirement and he doesn't think it matters. He's probably right on the finance side but to me there's a peace of mind that comes from being debt free and that's worth something.

806k mortgage at 5.875% (it was a great rate when we got it last year, got a 10/1 ARM).

No other debt. HHI $1.7M though we just recently stated making this

- $500K on 2.2% mortgage for house in Arlington valued around $1.6M
- $289K on 2.8% mortgage for vacation condo in Lake Tahoe valued around $1.1M we rent out when not using
- $359K on 2.9% mortgage for home in San Diego valued around $1.2M we rent out
- No student debt
- HHI $600K+ for 44 and 39 yo couple

Only debt we have is monthly CC debt which we pay off every month. Paid off a $800K mortgage with a house currently valued around $1.8M. This is the only action I regret. Should have refinanced when mortgage rates were in the low 2% range. We had a 10/1 Interest Only ARM and did not expect to still be living here when the interest rate adjusted in late 2023 and would just sell the house. Unfortunately life happens and we are still here so we paid it off before the rate adjusted. No student debt — served in the military to pay for my bachelor and master degrees in engineering. My oldest child received merit scholarship for her college and using some of my military benefits to cover the rest. Have $450K saved in 529 to pay for 2nd 16yo child’s college but hoping for merit aid/scholarships as well. Oldest child has been accepted to Dental School so whatever is left in 529 can go toward that but she will definitely have skin in that game to pay for that.

0, 41. Paid 50k cash for house at 18 worth about 400k now. I’ve never lived in it as I rent it out.

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Anonymous wrote:How do people have such low mortgage balances in the DC area? Are the people responding people who have owned their homes 20+ years?

I think this thread is getting more responses from people pleased with their lack of debt.

Like me! Zero. Paid off mortgage on $1m property by age 35, paid off $75k student loans by age 27.

I value a debt-minimal life because it allows us to be able to afford private school comfortably on a 250k HHI, as well as decent travel a few times per year. We pay cash for vehicles.

Nothing to be proud of. You poured money into an illiquid vehicle that was likely to appreciate anyway and you could take out extremely cheap debt to cover, missing out on putting all that extra free cash flow into the stock market, which has had a massively historic run up, nearly doubling. You’d have enough cash in the market now to more than pay your house note and would be sitting on - 2.5%-3% rate.

You lost millions in net worth. But at least you can brag about being debt free!

You are probably from family money.

I grew up very, very poor with a lot of insecurity in my life. I now never have to worry about money again. I literally never think about it. It automatically transfers into different accounts and savings vehicles, and I spend what I want, which is modest.

It has been incredibly freeing. I spend my time with my family and friends instead of worrying about managing investment property/funds. It’s wonderful.

You know why I came from family money? Because my parents, grandparents, and great grandparents could all build wealth by utilizing leverage.

I don’t even want that kind of wealth. I don’t want my kids to value wealth above all else. I want them to value education, friendships, and strong values. They have everything they need and some things they want. That is enough.

Very hard cope.

Hmm. But are you happy? I am. I have a strong marriage and great kids.

Money only gets you so far. I know quite a few very wealthy, VERY miserable people. I am happy with my choices.

Cope cope copeity cope, cope cope copeity cope!

If coping is having a great and financially stable life, absolutely.

Why do you feel this way about someone content with less? What about your wealth and life situation makes you feel so aggressively in favor of measuring your worth financially? I am serious. The happy people I know with money don’t do this.

Still with the hard cope, I see.