Anonymous wrote:Good God. What’s insane is the degree to which some people—apparently including you—are wedded to the idea that one should never pay off one’s house and that low-interest-rate mortgages are some kind of manna from heaven.

Essentially you’re asking, “Should I permanently live above my means so that I can keep my low-interest mortgage?” I hope others reading this realize all of the second-order effects that come from the decision not to pay off one’s house if one has the means to do so. For me personally, the day I paid off my house was one of the best days of my life and I have not regretted it for one minute.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it that the dumbest people make the most money? Honestly. OP can’t figure out how to put 2.5 million in savings towards a house that must accommodate the oh-so-rare situation of having one extra adult? And then live on a meager 240K per year?

I know DC is expensive but come on, OP. There’s zero reason for you to have a mansion, and there’s zero reason for you to have a mortgage.

And LOL to your husband being an economist. That’s the major the engineering dropouts pivot to in a panic because it’s such an easy degree to finish in a truncated timeline.

I'm confused. Obviously we could spend our brokerage on a house -- we could pay off our current mortgage and continue to live in our house (with insurance, taxes and upkeep ongoing). We could theoretically do that at any point. The rate is low, so we've elected not to do that because we make money that exceeds 3% in our brokerage. Doing that, in my mind, is equivalent to living off our savings (whether we do it all in one fell swoop or over time). And I agree we don't need such an expensive house (though you'd be surprised how hard first floor bed/bath with no steps to enter is to find!) -- likely a bad decision, but we're here now so that's the starting point.

Ad hominems on my husband seem unnecessary -- he's a fed, he's happy -- but okay.

Anonymous wrote:450k isn't a relatively high earning job. It *is* a high earning job.

I make a fraction of that, but even at 150k + bonus, I still have plenty of stress and long working hours. Don't confuse your husband's easy 140k fed job for what corporate jobs are like in the 150k bracket.

Sell the house, move to something much cheaper,
stick to your job as long as you can and ride it out. The next 10 years will fly by and you'll be in a much stronger financial position. Then consider shifting to a lower paying, less stressful role.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good God. What’s insane is the degree to which some people—apparently including you—are wedded to the idea that one should never pay off one’s house and that low-interest-rate mortgages are some kind of manna from heaven.

Essentially you’re asking, “Should I permanently live above my means so that I can keep my low-interest mortgage?” I hope others reading this realize all of the second-order effects that come from the decision not to pay off one’s house if one has the means to do so. For me personally, the day I paid off my house was one of the best days of my life and I have not regretted it for one minute.

Ignorance is bliss. DH and I snagged a 30-year fixed rate at 1.6% in 2020 for $3.7M on our $4.5M home. We’ve transformed that $3.7M into $7.5M since then. Leverage is how smart people get wealthy.

In your case, wealth is how wealthy people get wealthier.

Seriously, STFU