If life went according to the official plan, most of us never need to ask ourselves whether to pay off our home mortgage before retiring. That’s because banks normally do not extend mortgages or home loans (for our primary residences) beyond the age of retirement. So by retirement age, we will be debt free and have one less worry in retirement. But what if life did not go according to this plan? And we are the lucky few who are financially independent and can retire early (i.e. FIRE)? Should we pay off the home mortgage before retiring early? Or should we keep it? And risk having another risk or expense or worry during retirement?
This is not as uncommon as we might imagine. Suppose at the age of 35 we took out a 30 year mortgage to purchase out dream and forever home. Fast forward 15 years, at the age of 50, we realise that we have enough to FIRE....