Should You Pay off Your Mortgage Before You Retire?
A lot has changed since our parents celebrated their last mortgage payment by burning the paperwork. Mortgage rates soared to nearly 20% in the early 1980s and then dropped to almost under 3% in 2021. People have more mortgage options – including 15- and 20-year mortgages.
Despite the changes, there is nothing more joyful than that last mortgage payment – but should you pay off your mortgage before you retire and live debt-free in retirement?
Rodney Brooks
An award-winning journalist, writer and author and my specialty is retirement planning and other personal finance issues. I have written for many national publications, including USA TODAY, The Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report, AARP and National Geographic. I am available to speak on personal finance, financial literacy and the racial wealth gap.
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The author tells the history of the Freedman’s Savings Bank, how it grew much too quickly, why it failed and the impact on Black America. The Freedman’s Bank offered a safe depository for formerly enslaved people, expanded quickly and gained millions in deposits – mostly ranging from $5 to $50. But inexperience and corruption doomed it to failure, costing may of the small depositors their savings.
