by Owen | May 9, 2022 | Buying A Home, Get Out Of Debt, Pay Off Mortgage
One of the largest purchases we’ll ever make is when we buy a home. It’s an exciting time but also very stressful. Along with this large purchase comes an equally large mortgage. This new debt will typically take between 25 and 30 years to pay off, but many people choose to pay off their mortgage earlier.
Paying off the mortgage early is an important financial goal. It’s a goal that typically (and hopefully) is achievable before retirement.
Paying off the mortgage early is a great medium-term goal, something achievable within 10-20 years (or even earlier if you’re really aggressive). This makes it a very interesting financial goal to include in your financial plan. Unlike investing, paying off debt is very predictable, so it can be very motivating to see steady progress against your mortgage each year.
Getting rid of your mortgage is a great feeling! It’s incredibly satisfying to see those mortgage payments disappear forever. It’s also nice to know that you have the security of owning your home outright.
Paying off the mortgage early also removes a large burden from your monthly cash flow. This creates a lot of flexibility to make lifestyle changes, switch careers, take more time off work, or even retire early.
There are different ways to pay off a mortgage early. Which method you choose will depend on your personal and financial goals. The important thing is to make a plan.
Making a mortgage payoff plan can be exciting. It’s amazing to see how those future payments can quickly reduce your mortgage. Making a plan is easy and we’ll show you a couple of examples using our free debt payoff tool. It’s always important to balance paying off the mortgage early against other financial goals, like saving for retirement. So make sure your goal to pay off the mortgage early is part of your overall financial plan.
by Owen | Nov 9, 2020 | Budgeting, Buying A Home, Down Payment, Financial Goals, Financial Planning, Get Out Of Debt, Pay Off Mortgage, RESP/Kids Education
There’s a common misconception that financial planning isn’t necessary when you’re young. Young people are often told to go “read some books” about personal finance. Financial planning is traditionally thought of as something reserved for those with higher income, higher net worth, transitioning into retirement etc.
The fact is… this couldn’t be further from the truth.
One of the BEST times to build a financial plan is when you’re young, when you have lots of options, when you’re designing your life (both personally and financially), and when you’re making some BIG financial decisions that will impact you well into the future.
Some of the financial decisions you make while you’re young can haunt you for years or decades. Making the right decisions now can mean less stress and greater peace of mind in the future.
So why is there this misconception that financial planning isn’t for young people?
Most likely because financial planning in the past was focused on products, it was all about investments, insurance, new debt etc. Products that could be sold. Young people were often left out of the conversation because in general, young people don’t need products, they need advice.
Getting the right advice is so important when you’re young.
Even small decisions can have an enormous impact over time. It’s important to get the right advice early on, avoid common mistakes, and create the right systems and habits that will pay dividends for decades to come.
This advice should cover a few key areas that “traditional” financial advisors rarely cover.
by Owen | Sep 21, 2020 | Behavioral Finance, Get Out Of Debt, Pay Off Mortgage
In the world of personal finance, one of the best feelings is when you become debt free. Once you become debt free it’s like a weight has been lifted, you can breathe a sigh of relief, you’re free!
Creating a debt payoff plan is the fastest way to become debt free. It’s motivating. It’s provides a clear goal. It creates a clear payment plan to follow. But what makes a great debt payoff plan? There are a few important things that a great debt payoff plan should include.
Whether you’re paying off a bunch of credit card debt, or a big line of credit, or a student loan, or just want to see how long it will take to become mortgage free, a great debt payoff plan can make this happen.
What should be included in a great debt payoff plan? These six things are top of our list… (plus you’ll get a sneak peek at our new Debt Payoff Plan which is exclusively for clients to use when creating a financial plan with PlanEasy!)
by Owen | Mar 12, 2018 | Buying A Home, Pay Off Mortgage
Getting a mortgage for the first time can lead to all kinds of questions… one of those questions might be “how to do repay my mortgage?” or maybe you’re wondering “how do I make mortgage payments?”.
As a first-time home buyer you probably have no experience with mortgage payments, and you probably have a few questions. Sure, maybe you overheard your parents talk about their mortgage, or maybe you have a few friends with mortgage payments already, but if you’ve never had a mortgage yourself, you’re probably wondering how you make payments.
By comparison paying rent seems easy. When you’re a renter you sign a lease, hand over some checks, and the money comes out of your bank account each month. Pretty simple right?
But there is something about a mortgage that makes the whole thing seem a bit more daunting.
Things get even more confusing when you realize there are different types of payments. You have regular mortgage payments, top-up payments, and lump sum payments. You can also choose the frequency of payments, monthly, semi-monthly, bi-weekly etc.
Often these are things you’ll need to consider before signing your mortgage contract.
In this post, we’ll cover some of the different types of payments, fees you may face if you break your mortgage and some tips for changing payment dates and payment frequency.
This is good information to know before you sign your mortgage contract.
by Owen | May 22, 2017 | Pay Off Mortgage
Today we’ve got a guest post on The Frugal Farmer. Laurie has an awesome personal finance blog where she talks about getting out of debt, building wealth and also homesteading in the Midwest.
When we bought our first home it was in the middle of the financial crisis. It came with a $240,000 mortgage. It was a ridiculous sum of money. It also seemed like a very risky time to buy, people were being laid off, the stock market was tanking, and we took on a massive amount of debt. It was the largest amount of money we had ever owed.
Financially, we’re pretty risk averse. We didn’t like the idea of owing someone a large amount of money. We knew we wanted to be mortgage free one day, but our dream to pay off the mortgage early started as a joke. We’d talk about it. We’d laugh. It seemed impossible.
