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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   3242 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for January 30, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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I mean, it all depends on the rate. Once you get up to 6%, it gets real narrow if you can beat it with investing. Especially after paying taxes on whatever your profits are. Maybe if you were chucking everything into an IRA in an S&P500 index fund. But the difference between a post-tax, post-inflation, highly variable "10% average return" and a guaranteed 6% return from paying down debt is extremely marginal for most people. I wouldn't fault anyone for paying down a 6% mortgage over investing. I mean, I'd probably invest anyways, because I reason I'd rather have the extra money in case of emergencies than less debt. But that's a separate reasoning than it being a better rate of return.

Man, I'd love to be able to get a 6% mortgage instead of 26%.

How do mortgages even work with 26% interest? I haven't been adult through anything but very low rates so not able to comprehend. Are the loans just very low duration? Do you see 25% wage growth as well?

Are the loans just very low duration?

Yeah, if you have to take one out, you just do everything you can to repay it as quickly as possible. What @stolen_brawnze does, but dialed up to 11.

But mostly people simply don't use them. At least not for straightforward purchases.

Do you see 25% wage growth as well?

Haha, no.

My father's first mortgage was in the neighborhood of 20% back in the 1980s, but home prices were very low.

You could have gotten a Dodge Charger for an interest rate like that.

Thankfully, I am not a boot.

instead of 26%.

Where the heck are you to that rates are 26%?

ortho is russian (currently in russia, it must be clarified) I believe

That only makes sense if you paycheck keeps up - I guess if your job is connected to extracting or selling natural resources (oil, gas?) it could be real. But I think actually Russia has subsidized mortgages: https://realting.com/news/russian-mortgage-market-analysis I imagine that's what people actually do.

I think I'm going to go make tender, emotional love to a bald eagle now.

Except that stock returns are also juiced by inflation- something like 7% plus inflation for the S&P500. Admittedly there's extra variance, but it really is a significantly better return than what you'd get from paying off a mortgage, especially averaged out over 30 years. And you've got the option to refinance to a lower rate (plus take out money!) any time you want.

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