You folks that took out 30 year loans / refinances at 3% or lower…you’re banking now.

[JPJones]

[quote=an]Or, what about people who were at 4-5% and refi to lock in at <3%? Take all the $ they save and buy a 5years CD today?[/quote]

This was the biggie for our household. For us, it's not about leveraging equity for the greatest financial gain, but rather reducing our monthly overhead as near to zero as we can manage without taking any real financial risks. I know there are faster, more effective ways to get there, but I've never liked this culture of debt the royal we seems so attached to. I think that part of our culture is why our economy seems to go sideways with the slightest imbalance, so I avoid it as much as I can manage.

[sdrealtor]

Huge for mine also. I crave safety and security. I always pay my own way. Having minimal fixed monthly expenses changes everything about my being. It allows me a sense of calm and to fully be myself

[an]

Same for us JPJones. I have been refinancing every time I can save 1/8-1/4%. My last time was late last year, so I got pretty close to the absolute bottom. Now that I’ve locked in my living expenses for the next 30 years, I can rest easy. The higher inflation goes, the better I feel. Especially if inflation stays transitory.

[svelte]

[quote=sdrealtor]Huge for mine also. I crave safety and security. I always pay my own way. Having minimal fixed monthly expenses changes everything about my being. It allows me a sense of calm and to fully be myself[/quote]

+1

“All I want is to have my peace of mind”
– Boston

[flyer]

Absolutely agree with all. Strategic and thoughtful financial planning does create a sense of freedom to enjoy your life to the greatest degree possible and without concern. I would imagine that would be the mantra of most in the Pigg Universe.

[scaredyclassic]

So if you have no extra monies and refinance, I agree, it’s all gravy. But if you have a 500k mortgage and much more than that in monies to possibly pay it off, and you refi, you are gambling you can do better than the interest rate you’re paying, after tax.

Gambling. Yep. Not a bad bet, but gambling.

[an]

Everything in life is a gamble.

[svelte]

[quote=scaredyclassic]So if you have no extra monies and refinance, I agree, it’s all gravy. But if you have a 500k mortgage and much more than that in monies to possibly pay it off, and you refi, you are gambling you can do better than the interest rate you’re paying, after tax.

Gambling. Yep. Not a bad bet, but gambling.[/quote]

Agreed.

I can see both sides of the coin – nobody’s going to get severely burned whether they cash-out refied at a low rate and put that into CDs, or whether they paid off their mortgage and kept expenses low. Both are reasonable courses of action.

And neither course is going to have a major impact on finances. One isn’t drastically better than the other.

But I tend to think that folks who see a big pile of money in their accounts will think they can spend more. So there is a chance that it will get frittered away and the financial advantage (if interest rates continue to rise and there becomes a financial advantage – I don’t believe the numbers work at the moment) would disappear if that happened.

[JPJones]

[quote=svelte][quote=scaredyclassic]So if you have no extra monies and refinance, I agree, it’s all gravy. But if you have a 500k mortgage and much more than that in monies to possibly pay it off, and you refi, you are gambling you can do better than the interest rate you’re paying, after tax.

Gambling. Yep. Not a bad bet, but gambling.[/quote]

Agreed.

I can see both sides of the coin – nobody’s going to get severely burned whether they cash-out refied at a low rate and put that into CDs, or whether they paid off their mortgage and kept expenses low. Both are reasonable courses of action.

And neither course is going to have a major impact on finances. One isn’t drastically better than the other.

But I tend to think that folks who see a big pile of money in their accounts will think they can spend more. So there is a chance that it will get frittered away and the financial advantage (if interest rates continue to rise and there becomes a financial advantage – I don’t believe the numbers work at the moment) would disappear if that happened.[/quote]

Yup! Money burnin’ a hole in my pocket and all that.

[Author]

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