Should You Pay off Your Mortgage?

It's common that most people believe that you should pay off your mortgage before retirement. For many homeowners their mortgage is their largest expense. And it's also true that if they were able to eliminate their mortgage, that they would be able to reduce their need for income during their retirement years.

What people fail to see sometimes is that while paying off the mortgage does reduce expenses, it also eliminates a potential source of income. When you take funds from your savings and retirement accounts, you are removing funds from your capital base and compromising your ability to generate growth and income in your investment portfolio.

Paying off the mortgage definitely improves peace of mind, but sometimes the financial trade offs are just not worth it. Retirement accounts which are typically invested in mutual funds or other investments have the potential to grow at a much faster pace than real estate. In addition, once a home is paid off, it is difficult to tap the equity and reverse mortgages can be expensive.

Wishing You Wealth in all its Greatest Forms,

Alex

Problems with the Past

Not all financial planning works as it is supposed to. Since I have joined the profession, I have realized that every time I read an article, pick up a book or attend a seminar…some of the information is wrong. Keep in mind that this is not always the fault of the writer or financial advisor, but it’s because the advice is based on an experience that no longer exists.

The tools and techniques that most financial advisors use tend to be based on the millions of retirements that happened before they become planners or even went to college. Years ago, it was rare that most would be able to go to college or graduate degrees. Instead of having spent years in post secondary education, they started working early and worked for years and years. They were taught to live within their means, cut out debt and try to make due saving the little that they earned.

The key here is to make sure that the education that the financial advisor has is updated with today’s realities, including taxes and inflation. There was a great article on Marketwatch.com that discussed how over the last 10 years, many investors actually lost money in the stock market. This is not to say that one shouldn’t invest in the market, but to be aware that there is a need for newer thinking for many investors.

Wishing You Wealth in all its Greatest Forms,

Alex