By Brandon Koll | Last Updated 8/16/2025
At some point it becomes a decision for a lot of us to pay off our mortgage or do something else with the money. Both decisions have their pros and cons, but ultimately it comes down to you and your situation. Let’s dive into some of the reasons to pay it off and some reasons to not worry about it.
My Situation
Over the last few years, I have made a couple of really dumb financial decisions. I decided to finance more than half of the cost for a pool in my backyard. Then shortly after that I decided to replace my car by financing a new one. I went from no debt outside of my mortgage to $115,000. About a year after buying the car, I finally got motivated to get the pool and car paid off. Having just completed that goal, I’m now looking at my mortgage and trying to decide what to do.
I’m leaning towards paying it off early but saving for things I want at the same time. I’m trying to find a balance to this, so I can get my family some of the things they want while at the same time paying off my mortgage to be free and clear from banks. I figure I can be done easily in 10 years, which is the goal.
Lack of discipline
The reason I don’t want to invest my extra money instead comes down to a serious lack of discipline. You can tell from reading this that if I had any sort of financial discipline, I would not have recently financed a pool and a car. I know that if I have a bunch of money in a brokerage account and all the sudden want to spend it on something, there is a good chance that I do just that. On the other hand, if I’m throwing a lot of extra money on the mortgage, I will get it paid off much earlier. Another reason that I want to pay off the mortgage early is to lower my expenses before retirement.
Ready to retire
A lot of people getting ready to retire feel more comfortable if they don’t have a mortgage payment as part of their monthly expenses. A couple of thousand dollars free makes retirement look a lot more doable. This may be the difference between retiring in a couple years versus a decade from now. When you retire with a mortgage, it is also a lot riskier. What do you do if you have some major medical bills? You could end up losing your house and I don’t wish that on anybody. Being able to retire without a mortgage would be a huge benefit, but there are other reasons to pay it off early.
Don’t like owing anybody
I don’t know about you, but I really hate owing anyone money. It is just a bad feeling for me, and it does make me uncomfortable. A mortgage doesn’t give me the same discomfort as a credit card bill, but I still don’t like it. Maybe you owe a family member instead of a bank, that can still produce a bad feeling and can also hurt the relationship. It just sucks owing others.
Peace of mind
Another benefit of paying off your mortgage early is the peace of mind that you will have. I can’t imagine not owing anyone anything. I can’t wait to experience that feeling. I feel like a house is the pinnacle of that feeling. To walk around your house and property knowing that you own it is an impressive vision. Now, they just need to do away with property taxes!
Invest instead if you have a long time, discipline, and a low interest rate
Most of everything that I’ve said so far supports paying off your house and for most people that is probably the way to go. If you are in your 20s, 30s, or even 40s, have a lot of discipline, and your house is at an interest rate below 5%, then you should invest your extra money in the market instead. With the S&P 500 averaging around 10% per year, you will be a lot wealthier doing it this way in the long run. There could also be some tax situations that would have you keep your mortgage around for much longer.
Finance Hack – Just go ahead and pay off your mortgage early
As we can see, paying off your mortgage early is a big decision and should be really thought through. Paying it off is not a good idea for everyone but will not be a regret for too many people. I hope to one day pay mine off early and feel what it is like to finally own a home outright!
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