How much debt do you have?

Mortgage on primary residence: $500k

Mortgage on secondary residence: $170k

HELOC on secondary residence: $150k

Total: $820k

Mortgages on the 3 properties I own: ~500k

$600K mortgage at 2.75% with about 26 years to go. A good debt to have when treasuries pay 5%+.

9k is like 1980s student debt. Mine was >300K. Not uncommon at all. I don't see how 9k of low interest debt would affect your financial choices? Depending on loan term your payments can be well under $100/mo? Be excited. In my mind with debt that low, keep the payment low, then pay it all off when you get a little windfall if you want?

56 retired, zero debt.

Yeah, is OP bummed about 9k in student debt? That's nothing. I have 20k remaining and I'm getting ready to take on a likely slightly larger mortgage. All things considered, age, salary, etc, I feel like I'm in a pretty good spot compared to most. The 20k will go away eventually, I pay like $250/month.

Flagpole? Is that you?!?

I'm 37, my wife is 34. 0 debt. Paid for home. Very close to million dollar net worth.

My wife brought about $80k of student loan debt to the marriage. We paid it off in about 2 years and vowed to never go into debt again unless for real estate.

You have it backwards. Small debt is bad, especially for people who can’t afford it, but huge debt is good because it reflects your ability to take good calculated risks.

Nice. I retired at 54 with zero debt.

Lots. Some credit card. Some loans. Mortgage. Car. Typical American. I also can't run 14:xx 5K.

34, married, kids zero debt. Just sold my house but closing on a new one in a few weeks.

Going through the home buying process is wild. The amount they can approve your for is still insane. Student debt? No worries! Car payments, not a big deal!

They approved us for WAY more than we wanted. The mortgage would be over 50% of our take home pay.

We were told the old rule of thumb that debt payments should be under 40% of income was “outdated! This isnt 1950 anymore. Debt is how you build wealth!”

66, been retired 11 years, zero debt upon retirement and still zero. IRA/401k untouched so far.

None. 69 years old. Never had any debt.

Only bought “ things” after saving for them. Practiced self denial, self control and worked hard. Never had any kids because I wasn’t sure I’d be successful and did not want to be a burden on society.

Still practice self control, self denial, live in small house with one lamp, two chairs , plastic cereal bowls and watch antenna TV. One Bill Rodgers poster on the wall.

My heirs who I don’t know will share in 2 million dollar estate in not too distant future.

No, but I ascribe to many of the same ideas. It's why I could retire at 55. No matter what your views are on debt, I wouldn't want to go into retirement carrying a lot of it. It's one thing when you are working, but once you are not you need as much stability as possible.

Even if you could sell off a lot of investments or what have you to cover your debt if you had to, that would be terrible. You would be selling when you HAD to vs when you want to, when the market is best. Selling from a point of weakness vs strength.

Why would you care about having zero debt? If you retired in your mid-50s, you've got a net worth in the millions with or without debt and have made assumptions about what you will earn on your investments in order to remain retired.

I retired at 55 with $650,000 in debt but (obviously) with more than enough in liquid investments to pay that off -- if there were any chance at all that paying it off was the best course of action.

Advanced degree?

I guess the bigger question is why do you care? If you are comfortable carrying that much debt into retirement, great.. have it, but others are more careful. If you invest at all you are familiar with "risk tolerance" right? It's not a moral judgment or position, just a peace of mind thing for many of us.

But you felt the need to criticize someone for being debt free.

63 with 0 debt. however I have a wife and 5 kids, 2 who are not yet in college, so still working and saving for that. getting the first 3 through university wiped out a lot of savings. hoping that for the last 2 we will get some financial aid but not counting on it. I save about 25% of my income.

the only debt I ever carried was a college loan that I paid back in one year, cars over the years, and real estate. thankfully all that is done for now.