Should I pay off my mortage?

Do remember that the 'tax break' of which you speak is not applicable to ALL mortgage interest you pay. It only covers mortgage interest (and other deductible expenses) which exceed the standard deduction you get anyway. If you are married, the standard deduction on a joint return is in the $10K a year range.

You can easily calculate the financial difference by preparing your tax return hypothetically two ways for a given year. With and WITHOUT your home ownership interest deductions.

What country are you in, and what kind of loan do you have?

If you have a redraw facility on your homeloan (I do. I'm an Aussie) you can stash surplus funds in there. There are fees associated with taking the money back out, so it's only for emergencies, not like a savings account. However, it will keep down the interest on your loan. I'm doing this, and I'm years ahead in my homeloan because of it. The loan generates less interest, meaning that your regular payments take a bigger chunk out of your mortgage than they would otherwise.

If your savings are only earning 5%, and you have to pay tax on that 5%, then you might be better off putting it on the homeloan, where it will save you 6.5%. That's money you didn't have to earn.

Maybe you should refinance and consider a loan of this nature?

I don't know what tax breaks you would be getting. I don't get any tax breaks over here on my mortgage, and I'm paying 8%! You're pretty lucky.

Best wishes

No.

Actually, it depends a lot what U are doing with your cash money.

If you can invest the money with a better returns, say more than 6.5% per annum, then it is wise to use your money to generate more returns. For example by buying unit trust or shares (of course when the buying price is low and the future rise opportunity is there).

With the interest of 6.5 VS 5, I would say that it does not really matter to pay earlier. Because the interest is effectively 1.5%, assuming that you have the same amount of cash as your loan. Morgage loan is considered as GOOD debt if you can have better returns from cash.

However if the interest from cash deposit is low, say less than 2%, then, it is better to pay the morgage with a higher instalments so that interest incurred over a shorter period is not excessively high.

The most appropriate approach is to get a non-obligation consultation with a financier adviser.

1) Some may say that your effective rate you're paying on your mortgage may be low due to itemizing with your mortgage interest. This doesn't take into consideration that you are being taxed on the interest you are earning on your savings account. Basically, the interest you write off, is nearly a 'wash' when you figure that amount you pay in taxes because of interest you earn on CD's and savings.

2) The concept of leverage states that you shouldn't, but this is too involved to go in depth... but to basically say that considering a house appreciates, it could be considered an investment. Investments can be leveraged to reduce risk in case of financial peril. Again, too involved to go into here.

3) You could take a low variable rate that is fixed for a few years, and payoff your mortgage at that time, as long as the interest spread you earn over the fixed period does not exceed the costs involved with refinancing your home.

Of course, this answer does not take into consideration the psychological aspect of having a home paid off.

Many years ago, we paid off our house in three years by making accelerated payments. Our mortgage did not penalize us from doing it. Some mortgages do. Before you send in extra money to the lien holder, check your contract's fine print.

Emotionally, paying off the house was a great use of our funds. It freed us to make better investment decisions and allowed us to tolerate more risk. We also knew we were going to stay in our home until our kids finish high school.

the faster you pay off your mortgage the less interest you will have to pay....If paying off your house means depleting all your savings then NO. but pay as much as you can and if you can make additional payments until its paid off then do that. then once your house is paid off youll have the money you would have paid to your mortgage to invest and save...

without running the numbers here, I would pay off the mortgage...reasoning...you have your house paid off. Mathematically, it's close, I am sure...but the peace of mind and ability to save more is in my mind!

Refi at 5.25% and find a CD that pays 5.5%, they are out there. Then you keep the interest write off and stay liquid.

Yeah

Keep the money in the bank. You need it for emergency purposes. Trust me.