Making a lump-sum payment always saves you money on interest. And depending on how you handle it, the payment will either shorten the time it takes to pay off your mortgage or reduce your monthly payment amount.
Paying a lump sum off your mortgage will save you money on interest and help you clear your mortgage faster than if you spread your overpayments over a number of years. But this option holds risk. If you needed the money back in an emergency – such as job loss – it could be difficult.
Using one of these options to pay off your mortgage can give you a false sense of financial security. Unexpected expenses—such as medical costs, needed home repairs, or emergency travel—can destroy your financial standing if you don't have a cash reserve at the ready.
Putting extra cash towards your mortgage doesn't change your payment unless you ask the lender to recast your mortgage. Unless you recast your mortgage, the extra principal payment will reduce your interest expense over the life of the loan, but it won't put extra cash in your pocket every month.
Your required monthly mortgage payments will not be lowered when you make a lump sum payment on your mortgage or recast a loan, and you will still be required to pay the same amount to your lender going forward. However, your interest charges for each month will be adjusted.
In most cases, the lump-sum option is clearly the way to go. The main difference between a lump-sum and a monthly payment is that with a lump-sum option, you get to have control over how your money is invested and what happens to it once you're gone. If that's the case, then the lump-sum option is your best bet.
Regardless of the amount of funds applied towards the principal, paying extra installments towards your loan makes an enormous difference in the amount of interest paid over the life of the loan. Additionally, the term of the mortgage can be drastically reduced by making extra payments or a lump sum.
While mortgage rates are currently low, they're still higher than interest rates on most types of bonds—including municipal bonds. In this situation, you'd be better off paying down the mortgage. You prioritize peace of mind: Paying off a mortgage can create one less worry and increase flexibility in retirement.
The cons of paying off your mortgage early
The average mortgage interest rate right now is around 3%. The average stock market return over 10 years is about 9%. So if you pay your mortgage off 10 years early vs. invest in the stock market for 10 years, you'll most likely come out on top by investing the money instead.
You should aim to have everything paid off, from student loans to credit card debt, by age 45, O'Leary says. “The reason I say 45 is the turning point, or in your 40s, is because think about a career: Most careers start in early 20s and end in the mid-60s,” O'Leary says.
The longer you carry a mortgage, the more you pay in interest. By paying off your mortgage early, you may save significantly due to the additional cost of interest, especially if your home loan had a high-interest rate when you took out your mortgage.
In 2020, the responses read as 21% and 5%. While the average age borrowers expect to pay off their mortgage is 59, the number of survey participants who have no idea when they will pay it off at all stood at 16%.
If it is expensive debt (that is, with a high interest rate) and you already have some liquid assets, like an emergency fund, then pay it off. If it is cheap debt (a low interest rate), and you have a good history of staying within a budget, then maintaining the mortgage and investing might be an option.
Well, mortgage payments are generally due on the first of the month, every month, until the loan reaches maturity, or until you sell the property. So it doesn't actually matter when your mortgage funds – if you close on the 5th of the month or the 15th, the pesky mortgage is still due on the first.
What are the benefits of being mortgage free? Having more disposable income, and no interest to pay, are just some of the great benefits to being mortgage free. When you pay off your mortgage, you'll have much more money to put into savings, spend on yourself and access when you need it.
Kevin O'Leary, an investor on “Shark Tank” and personal finance author, said in 2018 that the ideal age to be debt-free is 45. It's at this age, said O'Leary, that you enter the last half of your career and should therefore ramp up your retirement savings in order to ensure a comfortable life in your elderly years.
Dave Ramsey is certainly one of America's leading voices on finance. Ramsey is averse to debt of any kind and believes you should pay off your mortgage as fast as you can. In fact, he recommends that people only take out a 15-year mortgage that is no more than ¼ of their take-home pay.