Dave Ramsey Approves

[762 shooter]

First of all, congratulations on no mortgage.

Sadly, you will eternally be renting your house from the government in the form of taxes.

As far as the "investing to make money and don't pay off your house" theory is not for me.

I have been investing like a 90 year old trapped in a 70 year old body. I don't mind if I don't make money, but I do mind losing it.

Just me.

Paid off my house 10 years ago.

762.

[alfadan]

Even paying my somewhat low balance loan off at 3.375 saved me around 22k. Thats 22k the bank did not make off me for nothing. I also invested into retirement the whole time anyway so I lost nothing and gained an appreciating asset 23 years ealier than "letting debt work for me."

[lightman]

A local financial advisor has a radio show that’s a thinly disguised infomercial every Sunday afternoon. He recently espoused that paying off a house is a way that poor people think. He went on to demonstrate how people should invest instead of paying off a mortgage. I thought and still think the advice was terrible even though the reasoning was sound for people that already have deep pockets. Then I realized that we were doing exactly what he suggested. If investments are growing at a rate much larger than the cost of the mortgage it makes no sense to take funds out of the investments to pay off the mortgage and reduce the return. Everything else including cars are bought without financing a penny.

A lot of financial people think this way. My advisor, a trusted friend, says to keep an open mind and look at the big picture. When you are nearing the end of a home mortgage you have already paid most of the interest. Like paying off a loan that has a 3% interest rate that you have already paid most of the interest on when your retirement account is making between 9 and 19%? It makes sense. We paid ours off early anyway as I had already maxed out what I could contribute to my retirement accounts. If it actually cost me anything it was worth the peace of mind.

We finance our cars and trucks because I can get 2.5-3% interest rates and my retirement accounts are earning more that that. Like playing with someone elses money.

[MUSTANG]

Houses, properties, Cars, Vacations, Guns, and.... are all payed off long ago. Could I have looking back made a better return through creative financing? Maybe; but guess what - barring the Tax and or Federal Government Confiscation - it's all ours and not a thing anyone can say about it. Having paid it all paid off we do not worry about what happens to the markets, the economy, or other issues that impact many in society. We can live off my retirement and what we have saved is available for "Fun", safety cushion, or emergencies.

Been Listening to Dave Ramsey's show off and on for years. Only place I ever disagreed with him on was "No Credit Card". We have always had credit cards for 40 years because they were a "Safety Valve" when away from home or shopping necessity these days - But...... we have not had a balance on them for over 30 years because we ay them off as soon as they arrive - easy to do when you have no debt.


As an aside; a couple years ago one of the local kids wanted a job and I put him to work picking up rocks (yes, literally picking up and piling up rocks). After a couple of days he was feeling more comfortable with an adult and asked me: "Are you Rich?" I thought a couple of seconds and told him - Yes we are rich; but we are not wealthy. We have our health, we have friends and neighbors we like, and everything you see here is ours and is not financed at the bank; so yes, we are rich. Have always hoped he was influenced by that conversation. He seems to have remained a good kid, not into trouble, and has a part time job elsewhere after school. I think the "No debt" discussion can be much broader than some see immediately.

[Handloader109]

Congrats. we got rid of ours 2 years ago. Great feeling to owe NO. ONE.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

[Ithaca Gunner]

The less bills, the better when you retire. That's a fact.

[kevin c]

Congratulations. I admire your determination and commitment.

We’ve been doing the next best thing: no consumer debt. We got credit cards based on the perks, benefits and low or no fees, ignoring the interest rates. The balances are ALWAYS paid off monthly. Ironically, even though the card companies aren’t making money off us, our credit ratings are nosebleed high and they keep raising our limits.

[Ole Joe Clarke]

Paid off the house today about 20yrs early. I thought Halloween would be a day we would remember. Lots of no vacations, day old bread, meat on sale, 6 day work weeks to get here pinching dimes till they scream and keeping focused on the goal

Now we dont owe a cent to anyone. Vehicles free and clear, house, hunting camp etc

WooHoo

Congratulations!!!! With the Lord's help, we paid off the home loan in 12.5 years. I remember both of us going to the CU and paying the last few thousand $$$ for my Wife's birthday gift. What a relief. Don't let any of the discouragers get you down, you have already done the deed. We haven't had debt since, except for a few days on a credit card.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

[woodbutcher]

Several years ago,a friend picked up 25 acres at a tax sale.Had a good job and got a mtg to build a nice house for he and his wife.
About 6 months after that,he had a couple of bucks in pocket change and thought WTH,and bought a couple of lottery tickets.He hit it big,and paid off the mtg and invested the rest.Kept working and retired at 55 years old.With his retirement and investments he and his wife are very well off.
And to the OP outstanding Sir on a job well done.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[slohunter]

Everything paid off but house still cost $350 a month, taxes & insurance!

[Winger Ed.]

Congrats!! It's a great sensation.

[CWME]

Congratulations!

We have exactly two more years left and are projecting to save $96,000 in interest on our loan. The savings will put our kids through college VS giving it to the bank. We were debt free aside from the house 2 years ago. What a relief that was. Life's curve balls have less impact stress wise now. Wife had some unexpected medical stuff come up. Being able to write a check to pay it off without worry is worth all the sacrifices made. Knowing we can pay all our essential bills from one income is a huge relief as well. If something happens to me she is in good shape with zero debt, retirement funds, and $ to take care of our girls.

[jonp]

Been Listening to Dave Ramsey's show off and on for years. Only place I ever disagreed with him on was "No Credit Card".

Yeah, me too. We have a couple of Credit Cards. We use one to buy gas as it gives 5percent back and gets points. The other I use to pay my bills online and transfer the money from my account to pay it off. Get points on that, too. We got a table saw and a couple of other things for free with the points. Never have debt on them. Besides, as a truck driver when I was over the road I always had one in case I had to drop everything and fly home for some reason. Used it when my father drowned.

But wait there’s more, or at least there should be. You’re way ahead of most, what’s the next financial goal?

Put almost all of my pay into retirement savings. Looking for a few acres of land south central US that is warmer during the winter with ground good enough to plant a garden. Thinking of buying one of those gable two story garages at home depot and finish it to live in. Sell our house in a couple of years and bank the money. Split the time between my paid off hunting camp up north in the summer and south in the winter. We found 25acres in Arkansas near when the wife's grandfather was from for $50k. Good looking soil on it.

[MT Gianni]

Just because you have stopped a mortgage of $x a month doesn't mean you should live on more. Bank so much a month for taxes and insurance, so much for utilities and so much for car payments. If you pay cash for a car, keep putting what your car payment should have been in savings for the next one.

[geezer56]

I'm 70. Paid my house off when I was 45. I now own three houses, I paid cash for the last two. I drive a 98 model Ford Explorer, that I bought for 1,200 bucks. It feels like someone rolled a boulder off your back when you make that big last payment on your house.