We’ve been married 26 years, and our two kids, 24 and 27, support themselves. We bought our house in 2003 for $410,000, and it’s now worth about $720,000. We owe $300,000 at 2.75%, with a payment of $2,150 a month.
I make $135,000 a year and he makes $165,000. We have about $1.5 million in 401(k)s and IRAs, plus $400,000 in savings, Treasury bills and short-term investments. He has a small pension, we’ll both get Social Security, and we have no other debt.
We’ve never carried a credit-card balance, and we pay cash for our cars. Neither of us grew up with money. I remember my parents arguing about it at the kitchen table.
I want to use $300,000 of our cash to pay off the mortgage. My husband says that’s irrational. How I saved enough to quit my job and travel for a year Play video: How I saved enough to quit my job and travel for a year At 2.75% interest, he says, we can earn more by investing, and paying it off would lock up money we might need.
He’s partly right about the numbers. But I want one part of our finances that can’t be lost, and I don’t want to enter retirement owing six figures when we have the cash to pay it off. Don’t Short Yourself offers weekly money tips to help you earn it, stack it and grow it.
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