yenahmik @ yenahmik @lemmy.world

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2 yr. ago

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Deciding to pay off the mortgage is a tricky decision, especially for those of us who locked in super low rates. I always assumed the best choice was to pay off the mortgage asap (long before I'd learned about FIRE), but with a 2% mortgage I'm inclined to never actually pay it off early. I have more money and flexibility by keeping my savings invested than if I dumped it into my mortgage.

If I had a higher rate (like 5%+), I think I'd be more inclined to agree with you. Though it'd have to be obscenely high rates for me to decide taking the tax hit of selling investments in order to pay off the house.

Update:

Both my spouse and I were informed we are safe (we work for the same company). At least I don't have to worry about our income being impacted.

Two of the people I work closest with have told me they were cut. I'm hoping there aren't any more close to me, because I already don't know how we are going to manage without those two people.

Happy first full week of work after the holidays - to everyone still on the grind.

It's layoff week at my company. I have mixed feelings in that I'm far enough along that I wouldn't hate a funemployment break, but given I'm not quite at my number yet and the state of the tech market, I'd really hate to start burning through my savings. I just want to know which way the dice rolls for me because it's really hard to make plans for this next year when it's 50/50 if I'll have a job this year.

If you want it to be truly anonymous, make sure your neighbors don't have doorbell/security cameras first!

We shall see. My company is pending mass layoffs so I may not have a choice in the matter. As of now, I hope to just keep going as my company provides a decent work life balance (lots of PTO compared to basically every job posting I see)

With the recent market rally, my portfolio has finally reached the point where a 4% withdrawal rate would pay more than my first job after I graduated university. I could theoretically leanfire on that amount, though I'm planning a higher number due to lifestyle inflation since then.

Great analysis! I do some basic tax efficient placement, but don't overly worry about it. I keep my bond funds in my 401k, tradIRA, and HSA. Stock funds only in my Roth IRA and taxable. I do have some international stocks in my retirement accounts, but I do get a decent amount back in foreign tax credit due to my taxable holdings as well.

Company announced they will be doing mass layoffs soon. They said if anyone wants to volunteer for a retirement package to let them know. If only I was closer to my number...alas maybe next time (assuming I don't get involuntarily cut).

I don't do churning, mainly because I'm lazy. I do use tap to pay with my smartwatch and have to say it is so convenient. I love not having to pull out my wallet and cards to pay. I did have a little snafu when I first started using it. I went on vacation to Canada and the mobile card got incorrectly flagged as fraud, so it kept getting denied. I had to call when I got home and sort it out.

It's open enrollment time here at the company and I was wondering if anyone is familiar with the HSA contribution limits.

Mainly, my spouse and I each are eligible for an individual HSA. However the combined maximum of 2 individual accounts is more than the family limit. My question: is our combined max the family limit or the combo of 2 individual limits? My benefits HR person said it's the individual limits, but I'm skeptical.

Reposting from last week, since I posted late in the week...

What percentage salary increase would it take for you to accept a new job, assuming you are happy with your current job?

What percentage salary increase would you need to change jobs (assuming you like the one you're currently at)?

Context: I was reached out to by a recruiter for a role in my niche industry. It seems exciting, but accounting for the current benefits I have compared with the benefits at the new role, it would only be like a 10% raise at best. That doesn't seem like it would be worth it, but maybe I'm just looking for excuses to avoid change....

Oof. Got news today that a coworker in their 40s passed away this weekend. They worked Friday and died Saturday. If that's not a punch in the face to retire early, I don't know what is. I certainly want to have as much retirement as possible, and not die after slaving away for years without being able to enjoy it.

Just applied for a new job for the first time since a couple of years ago. Here's hoping it works out, since it would pay more, have more PTO, and would give me more retirement accounts to max out (pension, 403b and a 457!). I've been in my current role closing in on a decade. Usually, when I apply for other jobs by the time I get to the interview stages I'm not as interested in leaving. I'll see if that happens this time around or not, since I'm doing this in response to RTO after being WFH for the past 4 years.

Haven't checked my balances this week due to taking an unexpected trip. I'm assuming it's going great.

I've snagged a few deals on CDs but haven't done bonus churning. I feel like having to move my money in and out of various institutions and holding it for the required period is too onerous. I'd rather just shovel any extra funds into investments and forget it.

That's what I'm hoping. My manager has been WFH herself for over 15 years, so I think it shouldn't be a huge issue. Last time I was very upfront about not wanting to go back in, and it sounded like the worst case would be being reclassified as a remote employee. Hopefully that remains the case.

My manager informed me that word is they are going to start pushing RTO again. Last time they tried was the end of 2021 and it failed miserably, since everyone just ignored it. I told her it just doesn't make sense for day to day work when the team is not co-located. We'll see what they do this time around to get people to actually show up. I've now spent an equal amount of time at this job between going in full time (pre Covid) and WFH. I really like WFH and it is one of the major reasons I haven't seriously job searched recently. I may have to ramp up applying to new jobs if this mandate has any teeth.

What are everyone's thoughts about paying off your mortgage pre-retirement?

I got enormously lucky and refinanced at the very bottom of mortgage rates in 2020. Conventional wisdom would be to never pay this off as it's effectively free money. However it is costing us roughly $20k a year in added expenses, which I could see as having a massive impact on ACA and FAFSA (assuming a future child) in retirement.

I'm getting to the point where if I want to pay this off before retirement, without having to sell investments, I'd need to start diverting funds from investments into a cash account (since HYSA is currently > mortgage rate) to have enough saved to lump sum in at retirement. Another option I've been considering is saving enough cash/equivalents to cover mortgage payments without paying it off. However I'm looking at roughly 20 years of remaining payments at retirement and I'm not sure if that is a good strategy or not. Thoughts?

Pleased to realize that between my taxable account and Roth IRA contributions, I now have 5 years expenses saved to support a future conversion ladder in retirement. I'm still a ways out, but it's cool to realize that even if I don't save anymore post-tax, I'll be able to access my funds penalty free.