Thanks for bringing it to our attention, good read. I am one of those people who is constantly amazed at the young age of so many retirees.

if having a mortgage allows one to increase their invested funds and have a net overall greater return year after year I call that good tax/investment planning.

Being able to wave the debt free flag or not are personal choices to each individual. Living within one's means is a given for responsible/thinking persons.

There is one thing people don't think about when they decide to have a mortgage in retirement. If you are taking money out of retirement accounts to pay the mortgage, the money that comes out is taxed at ordinary income rates. You may be increasing your tax bill and putting yourself into a higher tax bracket. That should be factored into your decision.

i am trying to figure out what is your meaning....the money coming from retirement account i don't think has to have a specific designation..or am I wrong.....I realize its ordinary income, but my income is a lot less then when I was working.....so is my tax bracket.....so what did I miss....

I always love to hear ways to protect my money that I may have missed...

a mortgage gives you a little tax deduction because of the interest you pay on the loan, my kids can more than likely sell the house for more than I paid...so no problem there.... and I believe a mortgage frees up funds for fun....my opinion anyway....

Agree with everything you and BTK have said.

I don't know what you mean by retirement accounts, pbkmaine.

Who will inherit your debt when you die?
 

I mean your IRA or your 401(k). Jonathan Clements, when he wrote for the Wall Street Journal, wrote an excellent article about this. I will try to find it and post.

Okay so you are only referring to those two things. If living off investments, a different story.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB109701483711237122
Here's the article.

You must not go to Europe very much. AE not accepted very many places there. We were huge AE fans till their mileage program kinda went south and we started traveling to Europe. I still like them and use them in the US. But we have found Capital One Visa to be just as accommodating when there is a problem, and they don't charge the 3% transaction fee overseas that AE charges.

We do our oldest lives in the UK. Found that after our visa was compromised multiple times while spending the summers in Europe AX has sites you can go to with out fees and have never had a problem there. It's the card of choice for our kids also, don't care about perks just my accounts being compromised.

I don't care. we'll be dead!

That's good. It's hardly accepted anywhere in France or Italy unless you're staying in some big chain or eating at some super fancy restaurant. Not us in either case! Our Amex is not platinum, so there is a 2.7% transaction fee assessed by Amex itself. Doesn't matter who the merchant is. If it's overseas, you pay that fee.

We never have a problem with Visa in Europe. Once in Australia. But every single time I used my Amex while visiting our kids in Brooklyn, NY--four times in one year--the Amex was compromised. At least in Europe, the physical card never leaves our sight.

The only hassle we've had with accounts being compromised is having to change account # on our automatic payments. Otherwise it's never cost us a dime because the cc co. covers the fraud.

Who cares !! Won't be here anyway !!

Speaking from experience. My parents passed without a will, without real estate, without savings and without life insurance. Three of their 5 children refused to pay for their funerals so two of us footed the bill. Those of you waving the Debt Free Flag, at least consider prepaying your final expenses.