Am I Foolish to Pay off My Home?

I owe about $80,000 on a house worth a bit over $500,000. I am 29, earn $100,000 p.a, have a wife and two kids, and no debts other than the house. A person I respect said it is stupid to have equity sitting in a home and even stupider to own a home outright. He has used the equity in his home to buy real estate and make about $600,000 for ‘doing nothing’, as he puts it. He said at my age it is foolish to pay off my home. I must admit I am tempted, but what do you think?

Tom

Hi Tom,

Dude! Well done! You’ve got yourself in a position that most 59-year-olds would like to be in -- at age 29!

(I’m so impressed with you, Tom, I’ve pulled out three exclamation marks! What the hell, let’s make it five!)

Okay, so now let’s deal with your friend.

You need to understand that they’re talking about their own personal experience … yours may be different.

So let me share with you my personal experience.

The day I paid off my home was the proudest (financial) moment of my life.I don’t want to get too Oprah on you, Tom, but it really was a life-changing moment: life became a lot simpler.

See, whether you admit it or not, debt always makes things more complicated, and more stressful.

But once you’ve got the banker off your back, you have the freedom to call the shots. For me that meant being able to ‘invest’ more time into hanging out with my kids, and less time stressing about ‘stuff’.

And being around my family is what makes me truly happy … that’s what makes me feel rich.

My advice?

If you can wipe out your mortgage in the next few years, you’ll then have the ability to redirect your repayments into building up your long-term nest egg, via pre-tax super contributions. It’s simple. It’s tax effective. And if you stick at it over your working life, you’ll end up seriously wealthy.

Scott