Mortgage Free

[snafu]

I notice Jluke has declared he is Mortgage Free. It's a important milestone and I offer congratulations.

[dawnwes]

WONDERFUL!

[Like2Plan]

Let's have a virtual mortgage burning party!

[LivingAlmostLarge]

congratulations!

[FLA]

well done!

[tripods68]

Agreed....Well Done SIR!!!

[Jluke]

WOW! - thanks everyone...

Wrapped that 168k loan up in just under 10 years. Purchase price 218k. I'm in a LCOL area compared to where I work, which really helped

If a coworker hadn't told me to refinance in 2008, who knows where I'd be now.

If I find this wasn't the right move, I will let everyone know. Still have 2 consumer loans left (16.8k)

Until then, I'm just letting the reality of seeing the loan completely disappear from my online CU account sink in.

Anyone have tips on what to do when the mortgage is gone?

[disneysteve]

Congrats! We're still a ways from reaching that point.

Anyone have tips on what to do when the mortgage is gone?

I can't speak from personal experience but my intent when the mortgage is gone is to pour that money into savings for retirement.

[tripods68]

Congrats! We're still a ways from reaching that point.



I can't speak from personal experience but my intent when the mortgage is gone is to pour that money into savings for retirement.

Totally agree with this. Other than to pay off other loans faster, you can start maximizing retirement contributions + ROTH if you have not done it. The rest would go towards taxable accounts invested in MFs/ETFs.

[sblatner]

Do you have kids? We paid off our mortgage and then were able to pay for most of college with our mortgage payment amount. If not, save for retirement, take a nice trip, etc.

[Like2Plan]

If I find this wasn't the right move, I will let everyone know. Still have 2 consumer loans left (16.8k)

Until then, I'm just letting the reality of seeing the loan completely disappear from my online CU account sink in.

Anyone have tips on what to do when the mortgage is gone?

Our mortgage pay off was a little anti-climatic. We were so anxious to be mortgage free that we helped it along a little bit. When we were within 1 yr of pay off we took advantage of a 0% interest for 1 yr CC offer. We put all our expenses on the new CC and we used the cash that we would have used for expenses to pay off our mortgage. Once the mortgage was paid off, we paid the 0% interest CC off. We saved a few bucks of interest.

Make sure you get your mortgage satisfaction paperwork from the mortgage company. Also, make sure your paperwork is filed properly with the local govt. We hand carried our notarized Certificate of Satisfaction signed by our lender to our county and had it recorded. (You should check with your county Land Records office to see what their procedure is). Then, I went back a few years later and did a records search to make sure it was recorded properly.

[greenskeeper]

Congrats! We're still a ways from reaching that point.



I can't speak from personal experience but my intent when the mortgage is gone is to pour that money into savings for retirement.

We are going to increase retirement savings but also purchase a small vacation home in the pocono mountains with the "mortgage payment" money.

[Jluke]

Do you have kids? We paid off our mortgage and then were able to pay for most of college with our mortgage payment amount. If not, save for retirement, take a nice trip, etc.

I am 39, married and have a 3 year old. I will max ROTH, and lean towards lumping savings into cash and taxable investments; I remain undecided on 401k (skeptical) but will contribute to get employer match as I rebuild savings and monitor market volatility.

Early retirement would be nice... just need to figure out how to get there.

[tripods68]

I remain undecided on 401k (skeptical) but will contribute to get employer match as I rebuild savings and monitor market volatility.
Early retirement would be nice... just need to figure out how to get there.

Care to explain why? Do you not trust employer 401K plan?

[feh]

We are going to increase retirement savings but also purchase a small vacation home in the pocono mountains with the "mortgage payment" money.

Why? You just paid off one loan and now are going to replace it with another?