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If you pay off mortgage you need some plan for the extra money every month. If you save and invest it that is one thing, but if you just spend more freely (was
by mmmbeer 12y ago
If you pay off mortgage you need some plan for the extra money every month. If you save and invest it that is one thing, but if you just spend more freely (waste it), you are not better off. Economically, the best way is to not buy too much house, and invest all extra money into equities (index funds) over 20-30 years. If there is no extra money to invest, then you have bought too much house.
- markc 12y agoThis is the best advice I've seen in this thread. A great thing about having a mortgage for many people is the forced savings of paying down the principal, but you want to maximize that virtue of home ownership by not over-buying - which brings with it proportionally higher taxes, utility costs, maintenance costs. Buy the smallest cheapest house that doesn't suck, and make sure you have auto-invest transfers to a brokerage account set up to get that excess out of your grubby paws. Mostly you'll just spend it on crap. If you do want something important (e.g. a car), you can buy it cash, but it's painful to pull a big chunk money out. That's what you want.