18 Aug 2023 5:40 pm
There should be more stories on the Internet of people who did it right!ROG62 » 18 Aug 2023, 4:51 pm » wrote: ↑ Finances isn't rocket science....but a lot of common sense goes a long way...
bought second (last) house at 33 in '89 for 84,900 / 30 yr @11%....I thought I'll be 63 when paid off and got a pit in my gut...this was during the "no fee refinance craze"...I started paying extra right away, got statement and all extra monies were going into escrow...WTF? I went round and round with the idiot on the other end for like 30 as he couldn't figure out why I wouldn't want extra in escrow if something happened...
i ended up refinancing to 9% and had to convince the wife to refinance...she kept asking why until the lady at the bank said we'd save 80k in interest...the wife says, "where do I sign ?"
refinanced again to 7.5% and went from 30 to 15 for $75 more per month...I asked for an amortization and they mistakenly sent me one for 10yr @200 more than 30 yr.... I never looked back and paid it off in 12 yrs...
peoeple at work were asking why I was so obsessed in paying it off when the interest was "tax deductible"...
I laughed and asked them why would they like to give $1000 in interest to the lender to save $200 in taxes...crickets...
SSI is another good one...I did that math and figured out I'd have to live to 84 before I'd start seeing the return in increased monthly benefits of $184...I said screw that and started collecting as soon as possible....
you're correct about insurance...it depends upon if you use it a lot or not...
I signed up under a Christian based self insurer for less than half of what my ex employer offered it for...
i am by no means a financial wizard nor were we well off...hell, we didn't have a pot to piss in while first married and a "honeymoon baby"...
it can all be taught in school coupled with some grit and determination...
The house being paid for was a relief for us. Have been in the position of carrying a Jumbo loan before, not fun. I intentionally made the house we just built painful, wrote a **** of checks. Banks are not your friend! I read an article today about the number of boomers retiring with another 20 years left on the mortgage. That's a lot of extra pressure.
If only we could bottle common sense!