After we paid off the house we were able to really sock it away saving up to 75% or over 80k a year in the last few years. I was maxing out the 401k, 2 Roth IRAs. And the rest was going in the brokerage account. Friend of mine said anything longer than a 10yr mortgage is a scam. Looking back on it I wish I had roughed it out with a 10yr.
We always tried to pay extra as well. We actually had lots of mortgages over the years between different houses, different properties, and refinancing. We couldn’t always pay extra but we did when we could and it definitely makes a difference. You’re right that you can’t describe the feeling you get knowing that it’s finally all yours. Paying ours off really gave us our financial freedom and peace of mind.
We paid our mortgage off early even with a low interest rate because we weren't sure if Jim was going to be able to work full time again after his traumatic brain injury. We wanted to lower all our essential bills as much as possible to ensure we could exist within our current home & town. We are glad we did it as it's freed us up to aggressively save for our retirement.
We refinanced down to a 15 yr mortgage & paid extra on it because we’d paid off all other debts, so this was our last one. We got our house totally paid off in 14yrs thanks to living on less than we earned while making less than $75k combined income!
Hi Jill, congratulations on paying off your house early, especially on a modest income. It is such a game-changer. I don't think people are really free, unless they are debt-free. Now, you guys can do whatever you want, and you never have to worry.
Please remember that people who own their houses still need to pay Home Insurance and Property taxes. These vary depending on where you live and in some instances can be significant amounts. Over time, these amounts will typically increase. Be sure to budget for these expenses.
I'm paying off my 2.8% 30 year loan early. I'm paying an extra 1500 a month to the principle. The certainty of having that bill gone forever as soon as possible is worth more to me than extra promised money in the future with a bunch of asterisks**** ****The market doesn't do poorly, your health doesn't fail, you don't die, you don't lose your job, you don't start to hate your job, you continue to get those raises every year, and so on. Keeping the debt and staying leveraged also leads to golden handcuffs. You CAN'T quit your job or take a lower paying job; you have to keep making those debt payments. This is not the way i want to live even if it can mathematically make more money (assuming all the above asterisk conditions hold true for your entire career). If you don't have debt you have real freedom. Nobody can take anything away from you. You can probably keep the lights on by bagging groceries.
Hi Pharmacy Brain, you are 100% correct. Debt equals slavery and assets equal freedom, in the purest sense. The smartest thing I ever did was to pay my house off early. I would never have the guts to retire early, if I still had to pay a mortgage. I would have had to get another job. Bet
We used to fish off the pier every Thursday night, but we started playing softball instead. Those are great memories of fishing with my kids, when they were small.
Great video and I appreciate your perspective. We had our house paid off 7 years ago and the amount of money that we’re able to index on our investments and goals cannot be understated. Keep up the good work!
Thanks David. Living in San Clemente is a blessing all by itself, but it's crazy expensive here now. I'm so lucky I bought my house in '96 or I couldn't afford to live here.
New subscriber. We visited California last year and visited this beach a few times and loved it. I agree that saving is not always about math. For me, if I have a good emergency fund, a good Bucket1 and a paid off mortgage, I feel good about being aggressive with the remainder of my investments. Thanks for your videos, I have watched a few today.
I had friend who done well for himself said he always came out better renting - I think he was right to a degree. A house is great and all security, for equality, no rent (especially today my mortgage are cheaper than rent), peace of mind and who knows maybe it can be a rental. After buying a house these are the problems I have had so far : One isolation to location, markets, economies. These things are dynamic expect change so being able to move around may be important for work, another is the person on the contract with you may not be fully committed, or even have a winner mindset. They can set you back. Rentals can be costly if you don't manage it right. Consider new expenses like taxes, services (maintenance, lawncare, etc), and repairs. So be careful with home ownership if you are not ready for it. However if you do have one definitely don't hold on to a mortgage. Pay it off as soon as possible.
Hi Asher, thanks for your comment. In my opinion, it depends a lot on your location, but I believe buying pays off over the long-term. Where I live at the beach, rents and housing have both skyrocketed. A studio apartment built into a garage is going for $1,900 per month, plus utilities. Houses can be money pits and you can get stuck for a new roof or a furnace. But your mortgage cost gets locked in when you buy and only your insurance and property taxes go up. If I hadn't bought my house decades ago, I would probably have to leave California or at least the beach, because I couldn't afford the rent here. I wrote a post two years ago on my blog that explains my take on this. hopetoprosper.com/be-an-owner-not-a-loaner/ Thanks again for stopping by. Bret
Just wanted to say I recently found your channel and subscribed. I really like your video style. Nice, interesting views with your voice in the background. You could probably do some of those guided meditation apps with your voice :) Love the content too but just wanted to comment on your style. Thanks for sharing with us.
Hey DJ, that for commenting and especially for subscribing. I really appreciate your comment about my calming voice. You have no idea how much that means to me. Before I started this UA-cam channel, I hated hearing my own voice so much I actually too a course to learn how to create videos. A number of people have told me I had a calm voice and I'm finally getting used to hearing it. Now, if I could just get used to putting my face on video. 🤣 I really appreciate you. Bret
Where I live has high property taxes, you could pay off your house and still owe a grand a month on it. I’m not sure it worth paying off. Ironically seems like California doesn’t have this.
Yes, California has Prop 13, so they can only raise your property taxes 2% per year max. This was to keep the government from taking old people's houses away or making them sell out for taxes. Since we're a triple-tax state anyway, they still get plenty of taxes from sales and income. They keep trying to undermine Prop 13, but voters have stood firm on this. It's not fair to expect retirees to pay current level property taxes on a fixed income. Millions of old people would have to leave the state.
@@HopeToProsper Sometimes I consider actually moving to California for retirement because of the scenery and lower property taxes, maybe this is crazy but a thought I've had. In retirement won't have much income so won't pay much income tax.
@@unitedstatesofpostamerica7559 The bad news is that it's really hard to afford a property in California now and the property taxes would be pretty high on a million-dollar house. Maybe, the housing costs will come down in the future. They are sky high here right now.
After we paid off the house we were able to really sock it away saving up to 75% or over 80k a year in the last few years. I was maxing out the 401k, 2 Roth IRAs. And the rest was going in the brokerage account.
Friend of mine said anything longer than a 10yr mortgage is a scam. Looking back on it I wish I had roughed it out with a 10yr.
Good for you guys. It's a wonderful feeling watching your money go into your own account, instead of the bank's.
We always tried to pay extra as well.
We actually had lots of mortgages over the years between different houses, different properties, and refinancing. We couldn’t always pay extra but we did when we could and it definitely makes a difference.
You’re right that you can’t describe the feeling you get knowing that it’s finally all yours. Paying ours off really gave us our financial freedom and peace of mind.
Hey Failure, I'm so happy you got yours paid off. It's a feeling you can't describe and it's worth every penny.
We paid our mortgage off early even with a low interest rate because we weren't sure if Jim was going to be able to work full time again after his traumatic brain injury. We wanted to lower all our essential bills as much as possible to ensure we could exist within our current home & town. We are glad we did it as it's freed us up to aggressively save for our retirement.
You guys are going to be so happy when you finally do retire and I know having your house paid off will speed up the process.
My inspiration
Thanks, I hope you get there soon.
Great advice. Enjoy your retirement, you've earned it.
Thanks Maui Builder.
We refinanced down to a 15 yr mortgage & paid extra on it because we’d paid off all other debts, so this was our last one. We got our house totally paid off in 14yrs thanks to living on less than we earned while making less than $75k combined income!
Hi Jill, congratulations on paying off your house early, especially on a modest income. It is such a game-changer. I don't think people are really free, unless they are debt-free. Now, you guys can do whatever you want, and you never have to worry.
Please remember that people who own their houses still need to pay Home Insurance and Property taxes. These vary depending on where you live and in some instances can be significant amounts. Over time, these amounts will typically increase. Be sure to budget for these expenses.
Yes, that is very true. Thankfully, our property tax can only go up 2% per year in California, but my homeowner's insurance went up a lot this year.
im from san diego love your blogs fellow brother californian. yep paid off one of my mortgage got 1 more to go
Good for you. A paid off house in San Diego is quite an asset. I love San Diego. I have cousins that live by the college.
I'm paying off my 2.8% 30 year loan early. I'm paying an extra 1500 a month to the principle. The certainty of having that bill gone forever as soon as possible is worth more to me than extra promised money in the future with a bunch of asterisks****
****The market doesn't do poorly, your health doesn't fail, you don't die, you don't lose your job, you don't start to hate your job, you continue to get those raises every year, and so on.
Keeping the debt and staying leveraged also leads to golden handcuffs. You CAN'T quit your job or take a lower paying job; you have to keep making those debt payments. This is not the way i want to live even if it can mathematically make more money (assuming all the above asterisk conditions hold true for your entire career).
If you don't have debt you have real freedom. Nobody can take anything away from you. You can probably keep the lights on by bagging groceries.
Hi Pharmacy Brain, you are 100% correct. Debt equals slavery and assets equal freedom, in the purest sense. The smartest thing I ever did was to pay my house off early. I would never have the guts to retire early, if I still had to pay a mortgage. I would have had to get another job. Bet
San Clemente. Couggt some nice sharks off that pier. 😁👍 Now I live on the other side of the country. My house is paid for too.
We used to fish off the pier every Thursday night, but we started playing softball instead. Those are great memories of fishing with my kids, when they were small.
Great video and I appreciate your perspective. We had our house paid off 7 years ago and the amount of money that we’re able to index on our investments and goals cannot be understated.
Keep up the good work!
Thanks Khoa. It's such a huge advantage when it comes to saving.
Good video! Good points too.
Thanks Buzz for the inspiration.
Enjoy your channel…. Keeping up good work!!
Thanks Tony. I am having a blast making these videos.
Great video. Dang, I wish I was close to a beach
Thanks David. Living in San Clemente is a blessing all by itself, but it's crazy expensive here now. I'm so lucky I bought my house in '96 or I couldn't afford to live here.
I paid mine off earlier its great
Hey Joseph, it's the best feeling ever. I'm so glad I paid it off.
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for stopping by and commenting. 🤘
New subscriber. We visited California last year and visited this beach a few times and loved it. I agree that saving is not always about math. For me, if I have a good emergency fund, a good Bucket1 and a paid off mortgage, I feel good about being aggressive with the remainder of my investments. Thanks for your videos, I have watched a few today.
Welcome to my channel and my town. I'm glad you got to see San Clemente. It's a wonderful place to live, besides the high taxes and cost of living.
I had friend who done well for himself said he always came out better renting - I think he was right to a degree. A house is great and all security, for equality, no rent (especially today my mortgage are cheaper than rent), peace of mind and who knows maybe it can be a rental. After buying a house these are the problems I have had so far : One isolation to location, markets, economies. These things are dynamic expect change so being able to move around may be important for work, another is the person on the contract with you may not be fully committed, or even have a winner mindset. They can set you back. Rentals can be costly if you don't manage it right. Consider new expenses like taxes, services (maintenance, lawncare, etc), and repairs. So be careful with home ownership if you are not ready for it. However if you do have one definitely don't hold on to a mortgage. Pay it off as soon as possible.
Hi Asher, thanks for your comment. In my opinion, it depends a lot on your location, but I believe buying pays off over the long-term. Where I live at the beach, rents and housing have both skyrocketed. A studio apartment built into a garage is going for $1,900 per month, plus utilities. Houses can be money pits and you can get stuck for a new roof or a furnace. But your mortgage cost gets locked in when you buy and only your insurance and property taxes go up. If I hadn't bought my house decades ago, I would probably have to leave California or at least the beach, because I couldn't afford the rent here. I wrote a post two years ago on my blog that explains my take on this. hopetoprosper.com/be-an-owner-not-a-loaner/ Thanks again for stopping by. Bret
I know so many people who use their homes as ATMs, and do not understand the adverse impact that has.
I know, it's crazy. People are way too comfortable with debt.
Just wanted to say I recently found your channel and subscribed. I really like your video style. Nice, interesting views with your voice in the background. You could probably do some of those guided meditation apps with your voice :) Love the content too but just wanted to comment on your style. Thanks for sharing with us.
Hey DJ, that for commenting and especially for subscribing. I really appreciate your comment about my calming voice. You have no idea how much that means to me. Before I started this UA-cam channel, I hated hearing my own voice so much I actually too a course to learn how to create videos. A number of people have told me I had a calm voice and I'm finally getting used to hearing it. Now, if I could just get used to putting my face on video. 🤣 I really appreciate you. Bret
My home town! Wish I could live there now.
We love it here so much. There are so many fun adventures just minutes away.
Great,,,
There are a lot of people during the great financial crisis who wish they had a paid off house when they were laid off.
So true David. I was sure happy it was paid off, when I got laid off my last two tech jobs.
Where I live has high property taxes, you could pay off your house and still owe a grand a month on it. I’m not sure it worth paying off.
Ironically seems like California doesn’t have this.
Yes, California has Prop 13, so they can only raise your property taxes 2% per year max. This was to keep the government from taking old people's houses away or making them sell out for taxes. Since we're a triple-tax state anyway, they still get plenty of taxes from sales and income. They keep trying to undermine Prop 13, but voters have stood firm on this. It's not fair to expect retirees to pay current level property taxes on a fixed income. Millions of old people would have to leave the state.
@@HopeToProsper Sometimes I consider actually moving to California for retirement because of the scenery and lower property taxes, maybe this is crazy but a thought I've had. In retirement won't have much income so won't pay much income tax.
@@unitedstatesofpostamerica7559 The bad news is that it's really hard to afford a property in California now and the property taxes would be pretty high on a million-dollar house. Maybe, the housing costs will come down in the future. They are sky high here right now.
Takes too long to get to the point.
Thanks for your feedback. I will try to speed it up in the future.