[Mikef99]

This is a decision you will need to make based on all the information you have. I agree with and have a mortgage currently beause the rate was so low and my investment rate of return has been in the double digits. Why would you not borrow at say 2.5% if you make 10% or more? Financially it is a sound move for me.
Social security is the same if you are in poor health or none of your relatives live to 60 or you need it to live yes take it now, but if you have the means to do without until 70 (by pensions, cash or you continue to work ) the Social secity is returning a rate of about 8% ( I believe ) for the years leading to 70, You may consider a delay even if you wait a year per the tables you should end the same. You can figure it out,,,in mine if I live to I think it was 79 I will have more money. Since my parents lived to 86 and did not have a healthly lifestyle that should not be an issue. My financial planner made my life expectency 90 ( he also said it was just a guess and he would adjust to my idea if I knew something ) But you also never know, I have seen children die 20-30 years younger than their parents. You also could talk about quality of life and what will you need the monies for after a certain age....

[CoachKandSportsguy]

Originally Posted by Velvet

My mortgage decisions are guided in part by what I want to leave in my will.

That's not a lifestyle choice, that's being guided by the afterlife. . .

I am not sure how a planner deals with that one. . . . other than an amortization table. . .

[Bay Kid]

I don't owe anyone except the tax man and I will the rest of my days.

[biker1]

Thanks for those numbers. I am more interested in the full retirement age (66 and 4 months) vs. age 70 scenario. When I ran the numbers assuming 2% COLA but no investment return on the money, the benefits would be equal at age 81. Assuming 5% return on all benefits (as an annual rate applied monthly) pushed the age out to 87.

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

So being a financial modeler, the model only took 5 minutes to build, using today's social security answers, as I am 62, and just barely qualified for the max, assuming total income only:

and the answer is
Taking full retirement at 67, (estimated for modeling purposes for my age) equals the same total income as taking it a 62 at 85 years old

Taking full retirement at 70, equals the same total income as taking it a 62 at 84 years old.

Taking but not using between 62 and 69yrs, 11 months and 30 days, assumes a benefits savings of about $234K, assuming taking benefits on your birthday as month 1, using benefit inflation model of 2%, $242K at 3% and $250K at 4% annual benefit increase.

However, I think that the real issue is cost of life style, which isn't being taken into account, as at age 70, the annual income difference is 45.5K per year versus $37.2 per year at 4% inflation if taken at age 62. . . or 8,000+ more a year for a cushion, $16K for a max couple if delayed.

So enough with the financial planning, I have to get outside on a 50 degree new england december day

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by biker1

Thanks for those numbers. I am more interested in the full retirement age (66 and 4 months) vs. age 70 scenario. When I ran the numbers assuming 2% COLA but no investment return on the money, the benefits would be equal at age 81. Assuming 5% return on all benefits (as an annual rate applied monthly) pushed the age out to 87.

Bingo.

[biker1]

Spreadsheets, or in my case a 20 line Fortran program (I'm an old school PDE solver), are wonderful things.

Originally Posted by dewilson58

Bingo.

[tsmall22204]

There are so many financial know it all's in the Villages. Paying off your home is a personal choice if you can do so. Paying off your bond saves 6%. Do what makes sense to you.

[b0bd0herty]

Originally Posted by roob1

Assuming you have current and continued solid financial solvency, and could own your residence outright with no financial impact on your lifestyle:

Given low mortgage rates 2.5%-3.5%, how would you feel about holding a mortgage on your residence in your retirement years?

I started to refi with Citizens First last year to take advantage of the lower rates. they wanted closing costs of $17,000 to refi $300,000. To me, it was just legalized usury and we canceled the loan. Then they said they would lower the closing costs by $7,000 which kind of supported my opinion.

Plan to stay here another (fingers crossed) 25 years and with no one to leave my estate to, will just go with a Reverse Mortgage.

[Cranford61]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

In my opinion, it is more than a financial calculation. I had my one and only mortgage of $35K when I was 29. I couldn't sleep, so I paid it off in about 3 years. I have been totally debt free since then. I would guess that, if you actually compared people who live debt free to those who routinely borrow money, you will find that the debt free people have achieved a substantially higher net worth.

Atta boy! Ben Franklin would be proud of you. “Never a borrower nor a lender be”.

[greenflash245]

really, I would not want a. mortgage during retirement years

[toeser]

Originally Posted by roob1

Assuming you have current and continued solid financial solvency, and could own your residence outright with no financial impact on your lifestyle:

Given low mortgage rates 2.5%-3.5%, how would you feel about holding a mortgage on your residence in your retirement years?

Personal opinion: Unless circumstances forced me, I would never hold debt of any kind in retirement and that includes mortgages, car loans, credit cards, or anything else.

[toeser]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

Interesting.

In our case we could easily make the payments but the idea of being debt free appeals to both of us.

We were able to take advantage of what was called the marriage loophole.

I took SS at 65 and a year later my wife turned 65. She filed and than stopped it.

As a result she could on her own get half of my SS and delay taking hers until age 70 when she got 40% more based on her earning.

Did exactly the same thing. Now my wife gets considerably more SS than me, which is great because statistically I will be gone first and she will be better protected.

[Gunny2403]

But, by taking SS earlier than “Full recovery” I took the “extra” cash and invested realizing an annualized return of over 8%. This more than compensates for the lower dollars I receive from SS. I factored in family history in terms of longevity. I will always be ahead of my break even point at this stage of my life. I’m 70.

[CoachKandSportsguy]

[for TOTV lawyers] For an actual decision, a person needs a comprehensive personalized model or analysis of all income sources, all assets, all liabilities, and expected expenses, and the behavioral answer to the question: "What monthly level of income are you satisfied with that you are not willing to wait any longer which you can live on and keep your lifestyle" which is based upon the after tax income for spending. [/for TOTV lawyers]

Thanks for those numbers. I am more interested in the full retirement age (66 and 4 months) vs. age 70 scenario. When I ran the numbers assuming 2% COLA but no investment return on the money, the benefits would be equal at age 81. Assuming 5% return on all benefits (as an annual rate applied monthly) pushed the age out to 87.

For the TOTV debaters for the TOTVs stuck inside due to the cold: All depends upon your age, your starting point in the SS benefits table, your income and your assumptions, whatever you think your future will be.

The previous answer i posted, does not include any personalized assumptions such as:
working for or living on income from other sources for
an assumed investment rate of return to be invested of benefits,
Medicare deductions
a tax rate of the other income,
a combined tax rate with other income
a deductible mortgage
a bond with interest
lottery wins
real estate tax rates
lot size and view
Garage Sq footage, with out without golf cart garage
tonnage of air conditioner
nor the average temperature of the inground pool.

YMMV depending on which vehicle you pick for after tax spending, and I picked blue!

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by biker1

Spreadsheets, or in my case a 20 line Fortran program (I'm an old school PDE solver), are wonderful things.

Fortran & IBM cards.................oh yes.