Get rid of your mortgage before retiring

If you want to retire in peace without the worry of long term bills weighing on you, there are few better ways than by getting rid of old mortgage debt and not taking out a new one. There are exceptions, of course, as always.

If your assets are such that you are making more by investing than you would lose through debt then you might decide to disregard this advice. However, there is no substitute for peace of mind and no money can necessarily buy it. Each individual must make his or her own decisions. Remember also that under the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed by Congress, you usually cannot deduct on your tax return interest from Home Equity Loans or Lines of Credit.

If you want to start out debt free, here are some ideas.

Make extra mortgage payments

By starting early and adding an extra few hundred dollars to your mortgage payments every month, you can decrease your overall obligation substantially and might pay off the loan years earlier. Some lenders even have an on-line amortization calculator allowing you to compute how much sooner the mortgage would be satisfied and how much would be saved.

Refinance your mortgage but reduce the term

To pay off your mortgage early using refinancing, you will need a shorter term loan. You might reduce the term of a 30 year conventional mortgage to 15 years, for instance. This works best if you refinance earlier in the current loan since mortgages are front end loaded when it comes to interest. Your monthly payments will be higher but you might be surprised. They might not be as high as expected.

On the other hand, if you have already paid 25 years on a 30 year mortgage, you have already paid most of the interest and principal on the cur-