Should I go 15 year or 30 Fixed rate mortgage?

15. You will be much happier and free 15 years from now. (And don't give me the 30-year but I'll pay it like a 15-year excuse - you're not fooling anybody but yourself!)

I presume you can pay for 15. Go 30. Each month save the difference. In case of a hardship later on you will have to pay your mortgage for a few years.

.5% higher on a mortgage payment for 30 years because of a single late payment?

Your forced savings program is really quite striking in going from 30 years to 15 or fewer. I was going for 5 years (double payments on a 15 year mortgage) and will likely be a couple years off because of an 80% property tax increase as well as massive hurricane insurance increases, but I am already saving close to $5,000 per year in interest charges (granted that you can deduct mortgage interest) and figure to save about $65k maybe total, whereas without this, we'd no doubt find ways to spend the money and not save anything.

Not true for a lot of people.

I got a 15 year mortgage and should have got a 30 year.

I could have invested the extra money and earned a lot more than paying down house quicker. Then after 15 years I could have made a lump sum payment and been better off because I still would have more money in my investment account. But I wouldn't even do that with fixed rates so low. I would continue to keep the low rate and out earn the mortgage rate.

30 year. Invest the difference. You'll make a greater return in the market than your house.

But but but Dave Ramsey says....

He also says pay off the credit card with the least amount due, not the one with the highest interest rate. lol

old and slower than slow wrote:

But but but Dave Ramsey says....

He also says pay off the credit card with the least amount due, not the one with the highest interest rate. lol

And I've led more people out of debt than anyone else in America, and EVERY behavioral study that's ever been conducted confirms that you are more likely to get out of debt with this plan. Thank you very much.

Yes. Look up 60 day late payment affecting credit. My credit score dropped over 100 points. I'm in shock. It might not be .5...maybe .3 - .4.

X-Runner wrote:

.5% higher on a mortgage payment for 30 years because of a single late payment?

old and slower than slow wrote:

But but but Dave Ramsey says....

He also says pay off the credit card with the least amount due.. lol

To make that work you need to discard that credit card once you've paid it off. So on and so forth until you've discarded them all. If you never want to go through this again, you own one card and pay off the entire balance each month.

Too many people get mixed up about having 6/12 credit cards. It's not free money. You have to pay it back!!!

Don't you find it a bit sad and pathetic that people need to be told that credit purchases are not free money?

That when a person instructs people to pay off their credit card balance each month to avoid having to pay high interest rates that people consider that person a financial guru?

Isn't this stuff a 4th or 5th grader should already comprehend?

I get a kick out of his show sometimes when people pat themselves on the back so much because they aren't acting like a complete idiot.

Hell no I am not getting rid of my credit cards. One pays 5% back on on my purchases at gas stations, grocery stores and at the pharmacy. And another 1.25% on all other purchases. Another gives me points that I have got some stuff but I don't like that card as much. That is free* money as long as I pay my balance each month aka not acting like a jackass.

*I am providing information of what I purchasing all the time so I am giving away some privacy.

Dave Ramsey is the guru to the idiots, but I give him credit for figuring out how to get rich by preaching the obvious. Funny though how he doesn't miss a chance to ask his listeners to avoid taxes but give 10% to the church.

Dave Ramsey wrote:

old and slower than slow wrote:

But but but Dave Ramsey says....

He also says pay off the credit card with the least amount due, not the one with the highest interest rate. lol

And I've led more people out of debt than anyone else in America, and EVERY behavioral study that's ever been conducted confirms that you are more likely to get out of debt with this plan. Thank you very much.

Ok, you speak as if you are the real and famous Dave Ramsey. Is that correct? Your handle is registered as Dave Ramsey.

Are you the famous Dave Ramsey of financial advice fame? Please confirm.

If not, make sure to read the Terms and Conditions.

See point #5.

saf wrote:

That when a person instructs people to pay off their credit card balance each month to avoid having to pay high interest rates that people consider that person a financial guru?

Isn't this stuff a 4th or 5th grader should already comprehend?

You're preaching to the choir man. I have always told people that in your grandparents' generation, this stuff was common sense. The fact is many Americans do have a 5th grade comprehension of money. The fact is we have genius marketers in this country that make people do idiotic stuff. The fact is 76% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, 53% hit retirement age with NOTHING to show for it, and money fights and money problems are the #1 cause of divorce. Laugh all you want, Americans are CHILDREN when it comes to money and they greatly benefit from my very simplified advice.

Just an observation, not a personal attack. People like you are either tightwads/short arms-deep pockets or are close to being over extended and need to use credit cards to earn every point you can get.

If you can pay the balances each month, great. But if you/others have a major unexpected expenditure/s then all is for naught.

Get a 30 year mortage and pay it off in 15 years.

Blah Blah Blah wrote:

Get a 30 year mortage and pay it off in 15 years.

I'm too young/poor to buy a house, but I want to eventually. So someone enlighten me on this 30 year mortgage, but pay it off in 15 deal. What is the advantage of this? Aren't you still paying a higher interest rate? Wouldn't you pay less by taking a 15 year mortgage and paying it off in 15?

Not Cool Bro wrote:

Blah Blah Blah wrote:

Get a 30 year mortage and pay it off in 15 years.

I'm too young/poor to buy a house, but I want to eventually. So someone enlighten me on this 30 year mortgage, but pay it off in 15 deal. What is the advantage of this? Aren't you still paying a higher interest rate? Wouldn't you pay less by taking a 15 year mortgage and paying it off in 15?

Yes to both. The only advantage is flexibility. People get used to paying more than they need to and factor that into their budgets. If an emergency happens that's the one payment they can cut back on to use that money for something else.

loqueelvientoajuarez wrote:

I presume you can pay for 15. Go 30. Each month save the difference. In case of a hardship later on you will have to pay your mortgage for a few years.

The problem here is interest on the loan overwhelms any notion of savings.

If OP would actually do the 30 and pay in 15, it would be safer. But, yeah, that pretty typically not how it goes. A 30-year paid over 30 years is a terrible choice.