Mortgage Free, Retirement Journey, Retirement Readiness, SAVINGS

We just reached a HUGE retirement milestone!

Sharon

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I never thought we would get here, but here we are. Today, July 18, 2023, 24 years and 10 months after we purchased our home, we now truly own it. Those of you who have paid off your mortgages probably know the elation I am feeling right now. It’s actually a bit surreal.

In those 24 years and 10 months of paying off our home, we also:

  • refinanced the mortgage 4 times;
  • paid for 16 years of college (amongst 4 kiddos);
  • contributed to 2 weddings;
  • made extensive improvements to the home; and
  • took numerous vacations.

Could we have paid the mortgage off sooner? Absolutely.

But we chose an alternate route. Although we refinanced the original mortgage numerous times, our rates always went down. We pulled out extra money three of those four times to help pay for all the above-listed life events and we don’t regret a moment of that.

So, here we are. Poised and ready to retire with:

  1. A paid-off mortgage;
  2. 12 months of living expenses in cash; and
  3. Retirement accounts equalling more than 9x my husband’s annual salary (guideline via T. Rowe Price’s recommendation)

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We do plan on moving, but just for now, I’m going to savor having full ownership of the home that has brought us so much joy over the last 24 years. 🙂

Published by Sharon

18 thoughts on “We just reached a HUGE retirement milestone!”

  1. Sharon! Congratulations! I am SO happy for you. It is a huge milestone, and I still remember walking into the bank and hubby writing the check to pay ours off. I have a suggestion if you are not already doing to be sure to make a sinking fund for your property taxes and homeowners insurance. Ours had been escrowed with the mortgage, so I started doing this. I am sitting here with a big grin on my face, rejoicing with you. 🎊

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    1. Chris, Thank you! we’ve been paying property tax and insurance separately for years. I never wanted the bank to take care of those. 🙂

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      1. I can’t believe all the wonderful things you were able to do by refinancing your mortgage. That took guts! I’d be too afraid to do that. Kudos for you. A life well lived!!!

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        1. It really wasn’t that brave, lol. We always were able to lower the rate, which, even pulling money out, lowered the monthly payment. We accumulated a ton of equity early on in our mortgage thanks to the real estate market in our area. But, yeah, we were lucky. 😉

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    1. Yes! Hubby wants to see Turkey. I love Greece. Down to the bottom of our bucket lists. We are starting on our kids’ lists- family adventures every other year is the plan. 

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  5. Congratulations, Sharon! I absolutely loved paying my mortgage off in 1987 with mortgage interest rates at 9 3/4% and taking a simple interest home equity loan at 5%and no fees with the equity I had built up. And then refinancing that home equity with a 2.75% no fees one. We would have had it totally gone in 1996, but my DD got in to an Ivy League school and we tapped home equity to help pay for it. Than some for my son’s college and her law school. Finally paid the college tap off 17 years ago. It’s been a true blessing to not have a mortgage in widow hood. And we just sold my new DH home in three days above asking price and $25, 000 above what the realtor wanted to list it for! We painted most of the interior rooms, staged it and moved a ton of stuff to a 10 by 10 UHaul storage unit ($159 a month) with a large UHaul truck for $300 total for the day (10 by 20 foot same price as smaller truck) only 3 miles away. We also filled it with all the yard debris and things we needed to take to our recycling center. Got Junk prices are crazy expensive. So are those Pods everyone seems to use. We close on August 23. My insurance company approved and paid 100% my builders reconstruction estimate and we will be overseeing that and then putting my home on the market. Hopefully 3 months all will be completed and we will permanently be in our retirement home. Good luck on your journey! My DH uses the best window cleaner named Spray On that cleans and shines the first spray with out streaks. Got it on Amazon. Sincerely, Lara

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    1. Wow! The values are our homes certainly came in handy. I guess we both got lucky. 🙂 Congrats on selling your husband’s home! Sounds like the market is still hot for sellers. We will be visiting the area we are considering for retirement in the Fall, and hopefully it holds up to be what we think it will be. 🙂 It hasn’t been easy trying to find a new area to live in for retirement. All I know is that it’s not where I am now. 🙂

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  6. My DH already had his retirement home in Florida and it’s furnished, so our problem is getting rid of enough stuff that we are not overcrowding the place with stuff we have sentimental attachment.
    Have you started a digital subscription to the local newspaper. A good source of “ for sale by owners “ and senior centers and library news. Also chatting with different realtors about the market and neighborhoods say it’s on your list for relocation at retirement. Using this technique worked we found invaluable information- high voltage lines going in within a year, home very close to flood zone had higher home insurance! A new housing development ! Good luck!

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