Should I Pay Off My Mortgage Or Invest? [Answered]

As you continue through your financial journey, you may be wondering if you should pay off your mortgage or invest.  Depending on what stage of life you are in, you may be leaning one way or the other. 

Understanding Your Mortgage

Before we make a decision, let’s take a deeper look into what we are paying for with a mortgage. A look at our interest rate, monthly payment, and the amount of time we are paying for a loan will determine how much we actually pay.

How To Understand Investments

First and foremost, not all investments are the same. For this example, let’s assume we decide to invest in an S&P Index Fund (great choice!). 

Investment = $955 a month, for 30 years at 8% interest

Monthly Investment = $955 = $11,460 a year Total Investment After 30 Years = $1,402,083.65 

Extra Money Towards Mortgage Scenario

Assume we are able to pay our mortgage off in 15 years instead of 30.

Mortgage = $200,000 at 4% for 15 year

Monthly Payment = $1479 basenot including taxes, possible PMI, etc. Total Paid After 15 Years = $266,288  After 15 years, we would have paid, $66,288 in interest to the bank. By cutting our mortgage time by half, we were able to pay $77,451 less in interest on our loan.

What if we had invested that $524 a month for those 30 years instead of reducing our mortgage time? 

Invest The Extra Instead Scenario

Investment = $524 a month, for 30 years at 8% compound interest Monthly Investment = $524 = $6,288 a year Total Investment After 30 Years = $769,310.82 after 30 years So if we did not pay extra on our mortgage, we would have paid an extra $77,451 in interest over the life of the loan.  

Apples To Apples

The final scenario involves us paying our mortgage off in 15 years and not contributing to retirement during that time. 

Investment = $1,479 a month, for 15 years at 8% compound interest Monthly Investment = $1,479 = $17,748 a year Total Investment After 15 Years = $520,447.38 after 15 year

So Should You Pay Off Your Mortgage Or Invest?

The clear answer is to invest first.  By delaying your retirement and focusing on your mortgage, you are giving up way more than you are gaining.  

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