Tonya in TX - Duck
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Pay more on your the debt you owe the least on. Keep the $100/month in the 457. If you are using credit cards now use what you used to put in savings toward whatever you normally use the credit cards for. If you don't have credit cards with a balance and the only debt you have is this mortgage and your 96K equity line, pay more on the mortgage. I can send you a spreadsheet that allows you to play with the numbers to see how much sooner you would pay off your mortgage. If you don't save at least a year's worth of payment I wouldn't bother. |
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No more disrespect
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depends. If your only other debt is your mortgage and you already have savings built up to cover 2 years of expenses then I would say it is a great idea. |
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skycat
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Depends on how secure you think your jobs are. I no longer pay extra on my mortgage. Instead, I am putting the extra amount in guaranteed Cd's and Municipal Bonds because our jobs are not secure with today's economy. If things work out well, I can always put that lump down on my house and still pay it off in the same time frame. If not, I have a means of support. I would change the 6 month of support to at least a year. Too many people are having a tough time finding jobs that equal their old ones.
Good luck. This is just my opinion. |
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pencil
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A .457 is fine, but buy plenty of ammo. |
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fanella
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the faster you pay it off, the less interest your are paying. |
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bud68
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At a minimum, you should have a six-month cash emergency fund before you pay more on the mortgage. |
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Skippy The Wondertard
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Of course its better to pay more on your mortgage. |
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Taunte Rez
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it's always better to pay more on your mortgage, even if it's only 50-100 more per month. |
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C F
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It's better to pay more to your principal-it drops your interest and then in your actual payment more is applied to the principal because less is going to the interest. |
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Yoda's Duck
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I totally understand your feelings toward the monkey on your back!
The thing is that doing both- paying off debt and building a savings- is important.
Yes, it's nice to know that nobody owns you, but at the same time, knowing that there's a little somethin'-somethin' being set aside and it's all yours is nice too. |
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squirrely
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If you already have a sufficient savings, enough to keep you sustained if one or both of you are unemployed for 6 months, then putting money down on the mortgage seems like the better option rather than investing the money. Your mortgage interest rate is likely higher than the rate of return that any investments are seeing these days.
We are working on paying off our mortgage asap as well. |
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PattyAnn
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We put it into the mortgage. You are paying thousands of dollars in interest on that mortgage. Pay what you can to decrease it. |
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falisrm
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i have some great mortgage financial software and i was reviewing those questions for my own mortgage. It doesn't help much to pay down your mortage other than you have less payments 30 years down the road. Sure it puts more in principle but it only effects the mortgage principle on pyaments by like $2 a month more in principle. I would definitely save cash. Your house isn't yours until you pay it off too. plus, actual cash is much more valuable than a house right now. A house can't pay for food or anything else. |
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Aisle897
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You should pay more on your mortgage. You will get out of debt faster and actually save money in the long run because you will pay a lot less in interest. But you should make sure you have enough money in savings in case anything happens to you or your family. A good rule of thumb is atleast 3 months but you might want more depending on your situation. |
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Black Diamond
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Hey,
We are paying extra on our mortgage also. Any extra you pay goes towards the principal not interest so any extra you can afford helps.
Make sure to save money also you never know when you may need it for an emergency.
It is not a waste to pay extra towards your mortgage, it means you pay less interest over the years. |
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PJ
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Pay extra on your mortage. You can end up paying hundreds of thousands in interest on a 30 year mortgage. If you pay it off 10 years early you save tens of thousands - way more than you would get off the interest earned on a savings account. And, if something comes up, you can always get a second mortgage on your home. |
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The Kid
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This is a fairly simple, but often misunderstood comparison. Assuming you have enough cash in savings to carry you through any short term needs (like paying bills if you lose your job, etc.) you just need to compare the interest you are earning on your savings versus the interest you are paying on your mortgage.
If your mortgage interest rate is higher than your saving rate, then it makes economic sense to pay down your debt. If you are earning a higher rate than your mortgage, it makes economic sense to put the money in savings.
A good rule of thumb, to use is IF YOU CAN EARN MORE IN INTEREST THAN YOU ARE PAYING IN INTEREST, YOU SHOULD INVEST. IF YOU ARE PAYING MORE IN INTEREST THAN YOU CAN EARN, YOU SHOULD PAY DOWN DEBT.
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Tommy M
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Paying extra is good in normal times to save on interest in the long run, but its best to save that extra cash and have it on hand until the economy gets better. Im sure it will once Obama gets in office.
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cac1778
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I was told that if you plan on living in your home for longer than 20 years then it is good to pay extra. However, if not, then you are just wasting your money. |
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