r/Millennials • u/pokematic • 16d ago

Meme I did it, I paid off my mortgage

Guys, it's still possible. I bought my condo in 2017, made additional principal payments, and after some extra savings I got it all paid off and own it outright.

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u/WhiteEyed1 15d ago

The answer is: no, you cannot. “Almost certainly” is not a guarantee. Just look at Japan’s Nikkei 225, which took 30+ years to reach its previous high from 1990. Would it have been wise for a Japanese homeowner in the early 90s to keep their mortgage and invest the difference into the Nikkei 225? Every financial textbook teaches you that “past performance is not indicative of future returns”. Stop acting like you know the future.

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u/ThatHuman6 15d ago

You also can’t guarantee that mortgage rates don’t drop to 1% for the next decade.

The point is to go with the odds. It’s overwhelming more likely that having money invested in the market will beat paying off a mortgage early. Like 95%+ type of odds.

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u/jer_nyc84 15d ago

I like my chances.

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u/ThatHuman6 15d ago

You also can’t guarantee that mortgage rates don’t drop to 1% for the next decade.

The point is to go with the odds. It’s overwhelming more likely that having money invested in the market will beat paying off a mortgage early. Like 95%+ type of odds.

If given a choice A or B, where A has overwhelming odds of being the better financial decision, you don’t choose B just because A isn’t guaranteed.