Smart home ownership isn’t choosing a barely affordable home based on the school district. Just because the school district is highly rated doesn’t mean your child will get a good education or even graduate from high school.
Struggling to make the mortgage payment, which includes ten thousand dollars in property taxes each year, can cause stress. Stress affects everyone in the household.
When we are young, we may think we will make more money each year until our house becomes more affordable. It doesn’t always work that way. People get sick or have accidents, and sudden job layoffs happen.
I write a similar article every spring because it is in the spring that I pay the property taxes and insurance for the year. I always feel a sense of relief after those bills are paid. We paid off the mortgage more than a decade ago. It is liberating not to have to make rent or mortgage payments.
Retirement doesn’t seem like a good option for me, but I have some flexibility because there is no mortgage or rent.
The number of homeowners over the age of 64 who have mortgages has increased over the last couple of decades.
In 2022, just over 40% of homeowners older than 64 had a mortgage, according to a report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. This represents a significant increase from roughly 25% a generation ago.
