Should you pay off your mortgage fast?

This is the age old question of home owners.  Should you pay off your mortgage fast or should you just stick to the original amortization payment schedule?  There are several ways you can choose to spend your hard earned money such as travelling, education, your legacy and saving for retirement.  So here’s the question, should part of your hard earned money be used to pay off your mortgage fast?

My best friend’s parents purchased their home together right after they got married.  They chose to wait and have children so they could focus on paying off their mortgage.  This is probably one of the smartest financial moves a couple can make – and they did it record time.  Mind you it was the 70s and home prices were a lot cheaper than they are today, but her parents paid off their mortgage in five years.

Is being mortgage free one of your financial goals?

That was their ultimate financial goal and they achieved it…together.  I am sure they made other sacrifices in order to put every single dollar towards paying off their home, but that’s the beauty of prioritizing goals.  After they became mortgage free my friend’s parents focused on their family and had two lovely children – my best friend and her younger brother.

Some could say this lack of debt and financial burden on her parents helped my friend and her brother have a better life.  They both attended college without student loans or having to work while in school because their parents had money saved.  Her parent’s making the decision to invest in property at a young age and pay it off as fast as possible helped them achieve other goals throughout their life.

Are you saving for retirement?

Now my best friend’s Dad is retired and spends his summer days on his boat and her mom still works part time.  Of course she doesn’t need to work part time because they both had a lifetime to accumulate savings – literally.  They also both have pensions from their regular jobs.  She works more for the social aspect of having something to do rather than necessity.

I think we can all agree that your retirement will be a lot better off if you don’t have to worry about making mortgage payments.  Unfortunately this is not a reality for everyone.  With divorces, remarriages and blended families a lot of retirees will be paying off a mortgage for the rest of their lives.  My Dad is one of them.

Maybe we will always have a mortgage

Just when my parents were almost debt free they decided to get divorced and after buying out my mother to keep our childhood home my father instantly found himself single with a mortgage.  Then he moved in with his new girlfriend and she decided not to put him on the title of the home.

When the upkeep became too much for them to handle she sold the home at a loss.  Now they rent an apartment and will probably do so as long as they both shall live.

So what do think?  Should you work hard, make sacrifices and pay off your mortgage as fast as possible or should you just take your time to become debt free?

Kristina Tahnyak

Tahnya is a Certified Financial Planner and former Investment Advisor turned marketing and communications professional She holds a degree from Concordia University, is debt free and currently works in the field of digital marketing.