When kids are little they are happy playing in the house or at the local playground. Those activities do not cost money. Parents of young children should take advantage of those free activities with their children and channel their household income toward paying off the mortgage early. Then, as the children get older and their activities, schooling, and interests become more complex and expensive, money–and perhaps time–that otherwise would be frittered away on a mortgage could be better allocated.
Travel, too, becomes more meaningful as the children get older. A four year old won’t remember Disneyland, but a ten year old might. A five year old won’t appreciate the history of Rome, but a thirteen year old will. Better to get the mortgage out of the way and have more time and money to spend meaningfully as the children get older.
In “Why Young Parents Should Pay Off Their Mortgage Early, blogger Andy Hill of marriagekidsandmoney.com interviews a young father named Colin Murphy who buckled down with his wife and paid off their mortgage in five years.
“How would you like to own your home outright?
What would it feel like to never make a mortgage payment ever again?”
Continue reading, here.
With Love,
P. Gustav Mueller, author of The Present.