Many Experts Tell You to Pay Off Your Mortgage ASAP — They’re Wrong!

Why Prepaying Your Mortgage Is Almost Always a Terrible Idea

Here’s why it’s financially better to pay off your mortgage as slowly as possible, and why it’s safer too

If you follow such personal finance gurus as Suze Orman, Dave Ramsey, and many others, you’ve heard them tell you repeatedly to pay down your home mortgage as quickly as possible.

Whether by making an extra payment each year, or by adding extra money to each payment, they want you out of that debt as quickly as possible.

Becoming debt-free as soon as possible is certainly a laudable goal, but with very limited exceptions this advice actually puts you at higher risk of losing your home!

Paying your mortgage off as quickly as possible increases your risk of losing your home!

Let’s see why that is…

What Happens when You Pay more than Your Monthly Mortgage Payment

Say your home mortgage is the most common type — a 30-year fixed-rate loan.