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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   1581 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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Who here makes extra payments on his mortgage? Or has a paid-off house?

I make extra payments, and looking through my amortization table just now I was incensed to learn that a full 75% of all of the reduction in our loan balance is solely due to our extra principal payments! What in the scam? (Edit: I guess I have to clarify that I am not retarded and do not believe that a 30-year mortgage is literally swindling me through nefarious trickery.)

Further, to say nothing of the compounded benefits, we have a present-day benefit in the form of $2,000 of saved interest, and we're still very near the beginning of our loan term! It's obvious when placed next to an amortization schedule that assumes we only make necessary payments.

(2/1/2026 Loan Balance)minimum payments - (2/1/2026 Loan Balance)extra principal - (sum of extra principal paid) = ~$2,000

I realized when I read through the mortgage documents that the full 30 year term would have me paying double what I borrowed for the house, so resolved to pay it off as fast as possible.

I probably lost out paying down the mortgage vs putting the money in an index fund, but I don't really regret it. If all goes well everything will be paid off by next year, and I'm looking forward to not having a mortgage.

I think it is underestimated that for a certain type of person, the mental peace of owing nobody else any money (which gives them a piece of leverage over you) and having a decent amount of savings squirreled away GENUINELY outweighs an extra 2-3% of gains from keeping things in the market.

Best way to describe it is that debt = fragility. If you get behind on payments, the interest rate marches on. The creditor can call in the funds under certain circumstances, whether you have the money or not. You get behind and it can be a struggle to catch up, and it inhibits you in other ways. And bankruptcy is an option but you have to be in dire straits to pull that lever.

And it can also make it harder to take on new debt even when that would be advisable.

I'm not one of those "ursury is evillllllll" guys, but I am one of those "I pay every debt on time and as owed" guys so the mental stress of knowing I gotta keep up with payments is annoying.

Me, I like short term, secured loans as my go-to. Seen too many people get screwed over by personally guaranteeing debt for things that weren't productive enough to justify it.

Your last sentence is 100% correct. You should really not use financing to purchase anything that will not provide a yield in excess of the loan's rate.

Houses don't actually qualify given that criterion, but we're all so confident the price will go up that we look the other way.

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