Imagine right outside of your window is a huge tree obstructing a beautiful horizon and the only way for you to see that view is to cut the tree down. You spend years saving up for an ax until one day, you’re ready to pick it up and start chopping. Day and night, rain or shine, hot or cold, through good times and bad. With every ounce of energy you have, you chop.
On some days, the size of the tree makes you want to give up and accept that you will never see the view you’ve dreamed of. Settling becomes comforting. After all, most people would be elated to see what you already have.
But one day, after chopping and chopping and chopping you see the tree tilt. Months later, it leans some more until finally, one last swing of the ax sends the tree tumbling down. The sound it makes is like the largest cash register you’ve ever heard and BOOM…a million dollar view is born.
Seven years ago, if someone asked me if I ever thought I would be mortgage free at 37, I would’ve said…”it’s possible“. I would’ve then asked, “what amazing six figure job opportunity did I land”? I would not have believed it was possible working a regular job and steady, persistent, unrelenting grinding.
A few days after we got engaged, sitting in a Lima, Peru hotel, we devised a financial plan for our life over meats, cheese, aguaymantos and pisco sours. Paying off the mortgage was a milestone that we knew was in the realm of possibility just not in the immediate future. At home, we would listen to Dave Ramsey podcasts and hear how much his guests were enjoying life now that the burden of debt was lifted.
Given our income, we would also think that we could experience that joy in a much shorter timeframe. When we weren’t binge listening to Dave’s rants, we would explore blogs like Afford Anything, Go curry cracker, Millennial Revolution and several others featured on Rockstar Finance. From time to time, we would flip each other articles from people who had done it and think…
“one day that’ll be us”.
The primary reason we decided to payoff the mortgage was to create a level of freedom and flexibility that no job could ever provide. It was a critical part of the plan because it drastically minimized our cost of living, allowed us to invest at an even higher rate and gave us the ultimate layer of security. I also believe tackling an obstacle was good for us as a married couple because it taught us lifelong lessons in teamwork and sacrifice.
Given our plan to gain financial independence [the point where our cost of living is covered by passive income], it simply made sense to eliminate our largest bill. As an added bonus, our [now] primary residence could easily be rented for $1000+ a month once we move out. That income, combined with our other rental property, covers a substantial amount of what we need on a monthly basis and gets us much closer to financial independence. However, there are downsides to paying off a mortgage such as
- The mortgage payoff increases our tax exposure because we don’t have mortgage interest to deduct every year
- The opportunity cost of the money going towards the payoff, could’ve gone into the market earning us a higher rate of return than our mortgage cost us
Ultimately we chose to pay it off because the good far outweighed the bad in the long run. Secondly, given the cyclical nature of our economy, it made little sense to assume that the gravy train we’re riding would continue into perpetuity. On a regular basis, we witness layoffs, people battling burnout or suffering from a slew of physical and emotional ailments that are directly linked to unhealthy work habits. More common than all of those cases are people who simply aren’t happy.
We don’t want to be like them. So we swung the ax.
We swung it about 30+ times over a 2 1/2 year period putting every single dollar to work. Some payments were as small as a couple hundred dollars, some upwards of $8,000 until the final swing for $10,800.57 + $30 for the wire transfer fee on Kiersten’s birthday. Over that period of time, we agreed to send every extra dollar to go against the principal as soon as our direct deposits hit because we knew that the longer it stayed in the checking account, the easier it was to spend it. According to the US Census Bureau; as of 2015, approximately 30 million Americans own their homes free and clear. Of those, 2.5 million are Black compared to 25.8 million Whites [the leading group]. Among Blacks, only 14% are between 30 and 40 years of age (approx. 327K). So compared to the US population, that means we’re in the top 9%. As, Black Americans we’re in the top .008%. But as Black Americans in our age group, we’re in the top .001%. So essentially, we’re black unicorns.
Bottom line We didn’t just payoff a mortgage; we bought time. Specifically, we bought about 45 months of our lifestyle, in today’s dollar, for future use and put ourselves one huge step closer to an early retirement. So in a way, I suppose you can put a price on freedom.
21 Comments
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Imagine right outside of your window is a huge tree obstructing a beautiful horizon and the only way for you to see that view is to cut the tree down. You spend years saving up for an ax until one day, you’re ready to pick it up and start chopping. Day and night, rain or shine, hot or cold, through good times and bad. With every ounce of energy you have, you chop.
On some days, the size of the tree makes you want to give up and accept that you will never see the view you’ve dreamed of. Settling becomes comforting. After all, most people would be elated to see what you already have.
But one day, after chopping and chopping and chopping you see the tree tilt. Months later, it leans some more until finally, one last swing of the ax sends the tree tumbling down. The sound it makes is like the largest cash register you’ve ever heard and BOOM…a million dollar view is born.
Seven years ago, if someone asked me if I ever thought I would be mortgage free at 37, I would’ve said…”it’s possible“. I would’ve then asked, “what amazing six figure job opportunity did I land”? I would not have believed it was possible working a regular job and steady, persistent, unrelenting grinding.
A few days after we got engaged, sitting in a Lima, Peru hotel, we devised a financial plan for our life over meats, cheese, aguaymantos and pisco sours. Paying off the mortgage was a milestone that we knew was in the realm of possibility just not in the immediate future. At home, we would listen to Dave Ramsey podcasts and hear how much his guests were enjoying life now that the burden of debt was lifted.
Given our income, we would also think that we could experience that joy in a much shorter timeframe. When we weren’t binge listening to Dave’s rants, we would explore blogs like Afford Anything, Go curry cracker, Millennial Revolution and several others featured on Rockstar Finance. From time to time, we would flip each other articles from people who had done it and think…
“one day that’ll be us”.
The primary reason we decided to payoff the mortgage was to create a level of freedom and flexibility that no job could ever provide. It was a critical part of the plan because it drastically minimized our cost of living, allowed us to invest at an even higher rate and gave us the ultimate layer of security. I also believe tackling an obstacle was good for us as a married couple because it taught us lifelong lessons in teamwork and sacrifice.
Given our plan to gain financial independence [the point where our cost of living is covered by passive income], it simply made sense to eliminate our largest bill. As an added bonus, our [now] primary residence could easily be rented for $1000+ a month once we move out. That income, combined with our other rental property, covers a substantial amount of what we need on a monthly basis and gets us much closer to financial independence. However, there are downsides to paying off a mortgage such as
- The mortgage payoff increases our tax exposure because we don’t have mortgage interest to deduct every year
- The opportunity cost of the money going towards the payoff, could’ve gone into the market earning us a higher rate of return than our mortgage cost us
Ultimately we chose to pay it off because the good far outweighed the bad in the long run. Secondly, given the cyclical nature of our economy, it made little sense to assume that the gravy train we’re riding would continue into perpetuity. On a regular basis, we witness layoffs, people battling burnout or suffering from a slew of physical and emotional ailments that are directly linked to unhealthy work habits. More common than all of those cases are people who simply aren’t happy.
We don’t want to be like them. So we swung the ax.
We swung it about 30+ times over a 2 1/2 year period putting every single dollar to work. Some payments were as small as a couple hundred dollars, some upwards of $8,000 until the final swing for $10,800.57 + $30 for the wire transfer fee on Kiersten’s birthday. Over that period of time, we agreed to send every extra dollar to go against the principal as soon as our direct deposits hit because we knew that the longer it stayed in the checking account, the easier it was to spend it. According to the US Census Bureau; as of 2015, approximately 30 million Americans own their homes free and clear. Of those, 2.5 million are Black compared to 25.8 million Whites [the leading group]. Among Blacks, only 14% are between 30 and 40 years of age (approx. 327K). So compared to the US population, that means we’re in the top 9%. As, Black Americans we’re in the top .008%. But as Black Americans in our age group, we’re in the top .001%. So essentially, we’re black unicorns.
Bottom line We didn’t just payoff a mortgage; we bought time. Specifically, we bought about 45 months of our lifestyle, in today’s dollar, for future use and put ourselves one huge step closer to an early retirement. So in a way, I suppose you can put a price on freedom.
21 Comments
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on September 28, 2017 at 3:28 PM
This is ridiculously dope. Needed this today!
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on May 19, 2020 at 11:50 PM
Yes! This article should go viral. Motivation! I want to sell my 5-bedroom. Use the profit towards a down payment on a smaller home. And pay that one off. Followed Dave Ramsey and now our current home feels excessive.
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[…] Remember when we paid off our mortgage? That wire transfer for $10,800 plus fees was the final nail in the coffin. We don’t normally go around dropping major coin like that and clearly Personal Capital noticed by highlighting the unusually large increase in spend as a part of my monthly summary. Pretty cool right? […]
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[…] Paying off a mortgage is hard. Working a full time job is hard. Marriage and having a kid is definitely hard! […]
-
[…] Remember when we paid off our mortgage? That wire transfer for $10,800 plus fees was the final nail in the coffin. We don’t normally go around dropping major coin like that and clearly Personal Capital noticed by highlighting the unusually large increase in spend as a part of my monthly summary. Pretty cool right? […]
-
[…] most anticipated and rewarding vacation we’ve had in years. It was the celebration of our mortgage payoff, the birth of our son [Baby r&R] and an opportunity to enjoy the fruits of our labor over the […]
-
[…] credit card balances all to create a massive surplus at the end of the month that we then used to pay off our mortgage. Now, with all of those bills behind us, we use that larger surplus to invest at at an […]
-
[…] was an absolutely incredible year for us. From the birth of our son, paying off our mortgage, celebrating in Jamaica, deciding to share our story here with all of you and getting featured in […]
-
[…] a down payment for our new home. You might be asking yourself…”Why in the hell would they payoff one mortgage only to go get another one?” The answer is well…’cause we can. But here are a […]
-
[…] is a work in progress and a top priority for us right now. Particularly since we’ve paid off our mortgage, the combined cost of insurance for our homes, cars, short term disability and life across […]
-
[…] mode over the last few years to put ourselves in the position to do precisely what I just did. We paid off our mortgage, car notes, student loans, credit card balances and tax debts over the last two years and live quite […]
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on September 3, 2018 at 4:27 AM
MASSIVE CONGRATS on paying off your mortgage!! It’s a huge milestone and one that will change the type of work you do in the future and why.
We’ve been on the mortgage free journey too and had to fight the resistance from people who told us it was a silly thing to do. However, like you, we know exactly why this is the right thing to do. Funny, those people are now taking notice of our progress with only a couple of years to go!
I love the stats about black people by the way! I never quite thought of it that way and will go off and see what that picture looks like in the UK.
One thing is for sure, the more of us that are mortgage free, the more there are likely to be others following this path. So there is huge purpose in the decision to be mortgage free.
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on September 3, 2018 at 1:01 PM
Thank you very much!. It would be interesting to hear where on the tip of the tip you are WHEN your mortgage is paid off. My guess is you are as rare of a unicorn as we are. Best of luck to you!
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[…] said, this is the result of being two relatively high earners, living well below our means and paying off our mortgage last year. Many of these choices, coupled with our Moms providing in-home care for our son during the day […]
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on November 3, 2018 at 10:58 AM
Hi, Great post! This is something we’ve also considered, but haven’t yet fully weighed the pros and cons for ourselves. Question: Do you think you will keep your house indefinitely? You mentioned being able to rent it out. I think we struggle because we aren’t sure what our long-terms plans are yet. We live in a HCOL area, so renting it out in the long-run might not be as worth investing in real estate elsewhere.
Thanks!
Jessica (aka Mrs. Fioneer)-
Hi!
Like you, it really depends on what happens with the market our properties are in. Since there is no note on the property, at worst, we may have years where it’s not as profitable but as of today, we’re confident we can squeeze a steady 5 years of high occupancy and steady cash flow out of it.
-
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[…] gone from being obsessive about ordering another round of drinks, sending bi-weekly payments to payoff a mortgage on our former home to now having 2-3 casual discussions about our budget a year. Even today, we […]
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on July 4, 2020 at 8:11 AM
I love this post, and congrats on completing what many can only dream of. Im on the way to Mortgage Freedom, just under 3 years to go! http://www.PlanOnFire.com
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Thank you!! And good luck to you on your journey.
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on July 18, 2021 at 9:30 AM
I love the stats you included in the end and how rare it is to have a mortgage paid off so young. The black unicorn analogy is very clever. I’m excited to see y’all at FINCON Austin later this year and hopefully meet IRL. We have similar investment philosophies and humor to lighten things up. If you’re interested, here’s a post I wrote recently on the same topic for my baby newborn of a blog. I’m looking to outreach you my own community as well, which is LGBT readers and allies. https://homo.money/opulence/should-i-pay-off-my-home-early-or-keep-the-mortgage/
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on January 11, 2022 at 2:09 AM
WOW Congrats on paying off your mortgage. I want same as you but sometime there are much more responsibilities stand before! Somhow soon I’ll also enjoying freedom from mortgage.
https://starhl.com.au/
This is ridiculously dope. Needed this today!
Yes! This article should go viral. Motivation! I want to sell my 5-bedroom. Use the profit towards a down payment on a smaller home. And pay that one off. Followed Dave Ramsey and now our current home feels excessive.
[…] Remember when we paid off our mortgage? That wire transfer for $10,800 plus fees was the final nail in the coffin. We don’t normally go around dropping major coin like that and clearly Personal Capital noticed by highlighting the unusually large increase in spend as a part of my monthly summary. Pretty cool right? […]
[…] Paying off a mortgage is hard. Working a full time job is hard. Marriage and having a kid is definitely hard! […]
[…] Remember when we paid off our mortgage? That wire transfer for $10,800 plus fees was the final nail in the coffin. We don’t normally go around dropping major coin like that and clearly Personal Capital noticed by highlighting the unusually large increase in spend as a part of my monthly summary. Pretty cool right? […]
[…] most anticipated and rewarding vacation we’ve had in years. It was the celebration of our mortgage payoff, the birth of our son [Baby r&R] and an opportunity to enjoy the fruits of our labor over the […]
[…] credit card balances all to create a massive surplus at the end of the month that we then used to pay off our mortgage. Now, with all of those bills behind us, we use that larger surplus to invest at at an […]
[…] was an absolutely incredible year for us. From the birth of our son, paying off our mortgage, celebrating in Jamaica, deciding to share our story here with all of you and getting featured in […]
[…] a down payment for our new home. You might be asking yourself…”Why in the hell would they payoff one mortgage only to go get another one?” The answer is well…’cause we can. But here are a […]
[…] is a work in progress and a top priority for us right now. Particularly since we’ve paid off our mortgage, the combined cost of insurance for our homes, cars, short term disability and life across […]
[…] mode over the last few years to put ourselves in the position to do precisely what I just did. We paid off our mortgage, car notes, student loans, credit card balances and tax debts over the last two years and live quite […]
MASSIVE CONGRATS on paying off your mortgage!! It’s a huge milestone and one that will change the type of work you do in the future and why.
We’ve been on the mortgage free journey too and had to fight the resistance from people who told us it was a silly thing to do. However, like you, we know exactly why this is the right thing to do. Funny, those people are now taking notice of our progress with only a couple of years to go!
I love the stats about black people by the way! I never quite thought of it that way and will go off and see what that picture looks like in the UK.
One thing is for sure, the more of us that are mortgage free, the more there are likely to be others following this path. So there is huge purpose in the decision to be mortgage free.
Thank you very much!. It would be interesting to hear where on the tip of the tip you are WHEN your mortgage is paid off. My guess is you are as rare of a unicorn as we are. Best of luck to you!
[…] said, this is the result of being two relatively high earners, living well below our means and paying off our mortgage last year. Many of these choices, coupled with our Moms providing in-home care for our son during the day […]
Hi, Great post! This is something we’ve also considered, but haven’t yet fully weighed the pros and cons for ourselves. Question: Do you think you will keep your house indefinitely? You mentioned being able to rent it out. I think we struggle because we aren’t sure what our long-terms plans are yet. We live in a HCOL area, so renting it out in the long-run might not be as worth investing in real estate elsewhere.
Thanks!
Jessica (aka Mrs. Fioneer)
Hi!
Like you, it really depends on what happens with the market our properties are in. Since there is no note on the property, at worst, we may have years where it’s not as profitable but as of today, we’re confident we can squeeze a steady 5 years of high occupancy and steady cash flow out of it.
[…] gone from being obsessive about ordering another round of drinks, sending bi-weekly payments to payoff a mortgage on our former home to now having 2-3 casual discussions about our budget a year. Even today, we […]
I love this post, and congrats on completing what many can only dream of. Im on the way to Mortgage Freedom, just under 3 years to go! http://www.PlanOnFire.com
Thank you!! And good luck to you on your journey.
I love the stats you included in the end and how rare it is to have a mortgage paid off so young. The black unicorn analogy is very clever. I’m excited to see y’all at FINCON Austin later this year and hopefully meet IRL. We have similar investment philosophies and humor to lighten things up. If you’re interested, here’s a post I wrote recently on the same topic for my baby newborn of a blog. I’m looking to outreach you my own community as well, which is LGBT readers and allies. https://homo.money/opulence/should-i-pay-off-my-home-early-or-keep-the-mortgage/
WOW Congrats on paying off your mortgage. I want same as you but sometime there are much more responsibilities stand before! Somhow soon I’ll also enjoying freedom from mortgage.
https://starhl.com.au/