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Weekly Finance Thread - 2027-07-04

A weekly thread to discuss financial matters - from personal all the way up to global.

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Given relatively high mortgage interest rates over the last several years, my partner and I have been been delaying purchasing a shared home and have spent the time building up a stronger financial position instead.

Watching the behavior of the 10 year Treasury, it looks like we're going to be stuck between six and seven percent for the foreseeable future, so I should probably start planning. Are there any good rules of thumb for choosing between a 15 and 30 year mortgage these days? I hate debt, so I gravitate to the 15 in all cases, but I also know that's a preference, and not based on anything rational.

I also did the 30-year + aggressive payoff schedule (trending to 15 years and maybe less if family members die and I receive expected inheritance).

Keep in mind you do get to deduct mortgage interest paid, so if you are able to itemize deductions (should be more likely with SALT cap increasing to 40k) it works out to something more like 3-4% effective interest paid. Not bad if you want the flexibility and lower mandatory payments.