Most of the financial advice out there is focused on how you can pay off the mortgage on your home as quickly as possible, from making lump sum payments to switching to bi-weekly payments rather than monthly.
However, there are a few things that you might want to consider before you put all of your financial efforts into paying off your mortgage as quickly as possible.
Diversifying Your Investments
Of course, paying off your mortgage as fast as possible has a number of obvious advantages. You will be able to own your home a lot sooner and you will decrease the amount of interest you pay over the years. However, are you diversifying your assets?
Savvy investors know that they should decrease their risk by spreading their money into a number of different types of assets and investments so that they don’t have “all their eggs in one basket.”
If you have extra money and you want to invest it, you might want to make sure that you have a variety of investments including savings, stocks and bonds, rather than just investment in your home.
Liquid Assets
Another thing to consider is that having your money invested in your home means that it will not be a very liquid asset. If you needed the cash right away, you could have to sell your home or take out a home equity loan, which is a complex and time consuming process.
Before investing all of your money in your mortgage, consider creating an emergency fund as well so that you have some easily accessible money when you need it.
Earning More With Better Investments
Before investing all of your money in your mortgage, find out whether you would be able to earn more by investing it into other opportunities such as interest-bearing bonds. Sometimes stocks, bonds and mutual funds have better returns over time than the typical mortgage interest rates.
Perhaps paying off your mortgage as quickly as possible is the best option for you. However, make sure that you consider all of the factors before committing to this decision.
To find out more about mortgages and your home, contact trusted mortgage professional today.