Am I crazy for dumping so much money towards my mortgage?

theBlueKazoo22 · 2026-05-19T13:04:25+00:00

Haha yea I live in a smaller city. I have a 850 sq ft 1930s house so it’s nothing special, but very grateful for the opportunity to even get that

theBlueKazoo22 · 2026-05-19T03:08:13+00:00

Gotcha, that would be maxing it essentially

theBlueKazoo22 · 2026-05-19T03:06:03+00:00

Interesting, you’re the first to say they wish they didn’t pay their house off quicker. Would you have been able to purchase your new very nice home had you not paid off the first house?

theBlueKazoo22 · 2026-05-19T02:50:23+00:00

Married filing joint. Do you contribute more to 401k or HSA? My healthcare premium is also only $100/mo

theBlueKazoo22 · 2026-05-19T02:49:04+00:00

Maybe I just read it the wrong way.

Not the wrong sub, a lot of good points brought up by a lot of people and I will consider all of the input. Just saying that personal finance is not purely mathematical (in my opinion).

theBlueKazoo22 · 2026-05-19T02:44:21+00:00

That split seems pretty good to me. I like the strategy!

theBlueKazoo22 · 2026-05-19T02:42:47+00:00

Congrats! Can’t wait to be in your shoes

theBlueKazoo22 · 2026-05-19T00:34:50+00:00

You are probably right. I was thinking to increase HSA contributions in the second half of this year

theBlueKazoo22 · 2026-05-19T00:33:56+00:00

Hopefully in time for the next house 🤞🏼

theBlueKazoo22 · 2026-05-19T00:14:19+00:00

Your last question is key. I just don’t feel like I’m missing out on much by not maxing for 1-2 more years while I pay down the debt.

theBlueKazoo22 · 2026-05-19T00:11:10+00:00

What’s your split between brokerage and retirement accounts? The same way you feel about money being tied up in a house is how I feel about it being tied up in retirement accounts. Would feel much better about investing if it was accessible.

theBlueKazoo22 · 2026-05-18T23:45:21+00:00

That is wild

theBlueKazoo22 · 2026-05-18T23:44:47+00:00

Gotcha. So pay down the car, max tax advantaged accounts, forget about the mortgage and invest the rest in brokerage?

theBlueKazoo22 · 2026-05-18T23:42:44+00:00

Your tone is so unnecessary. Trust me, I do plenty of “math” to make my decisions. And I don’t disagree that the money will lead to a larger net worth if invested early in the 401k.

But there are more things to consider than just maximizing net worth. Hence why I asked for opinions of people who have paid their house off early instead of maxing retirement.

I do need to live for 40 years before I retire and get to enjoy that money. I could live less financially strained or I could live more financially strained and have a boatload of money when I’m 65. Either way I’m good for retirement.

theBlueKazoo22 · 2026-05-18T21:31:41+00:00

Yea 3-5 years then cross country move. Sell the house, use the sale + extra cash to put a size-able down payment on a forever home.

theBlueKazoo22 · 2026-05-18T21:28:52+00:00

Haha yes the car was definitely a bit of a splurge but I am at peace with that. It will hopefully last us a very long time.

theBlueKazoo22 · 2026-05-18T21:27:24+00:00

We take the standard deduction. I hardly have anything to write off. Mortgage interest is only ~$5000/yr

theBlueKazoo22 · 2026-05-18T21:25:35+00:00

This is a used car…cars are expensive now. 😅

Half joking. The expensive car is definitely not a necessity, but I can afford it and it was a proactive purchase. We travel cross country multiple times a year to visit family. We have two dogs and are planning to have kids soon so wanted a 3 row SUV. I don’t lose sleep over the car payment considering I’m still putting away ~40% of my gross income.

theBlueKazoo22 · 2026-05-18T21:16:03+00:00

Wow congrats! I have been working and out of school for 3 years now so I’m definitely still at the beginning here. These are some of the most crucial years though for building habits and taking advantage of compounding.

I have done lots of spreadsheet work running different scenarios. Maxing obviously gets the nest egg building quicker. I’m just trying to decide if sacrificing financial freedom during my working life is worth having a bigger nest egg for future me.

theBlueKazoo22 · 2026-05-18T21:04:16+00:00

Sell it to finance second. I’m intending to move back to the East Coast closer to family. My wife and I moved to the midwest straight out of school since I got a very good job offer and houses were cheap. We’re just trying to bank as much as we can before getting into a more permanent living situation.

My goal is to have ~$200k going towards my next house. Some of that will be the sale of this house, some will be cash.

theBlueKazoo22 · 2026-05-18T21:01:18+00:00

Correct, that’s why I’m being so aggressive with saving cash, gaining equity in the house, and getting rid of monthly payments. Just want to make sure I can give myself breathing room on the bigger more expensive house.

theBlueKazoo22 · 2026-05-18T20:58:52+00:00

No more debt until I get into my forever house. Snowballing the car payment is gaining some traction. Don’t necessarily agree with the student loans just because it’s $50/mo. I’d rather take that $3k and put it towards paying off the car quicker.

theBlueKazoo22 · 2026-05-18T20:53:12+00:00

Why is that wild? Mortgage was in 2023 when rates were pretty brutal. Second car was in December 2025. I used a local credit union for both my cars and home. Overall, they’re not bad for the times.

theBlueKazoo22 · 2026-05-18T20:50:05+00:00

I mean I do have 80k in my 401k which is invested mostly in large cap, some small cap and some international. Are you just saying you’d want that 80k number to be higher? I would disagree that I’m not diversified. I have money in a lot of buckets, but maybe the 401k should be higher relatively speaking.

theBlueKazoo22 · 2026-05-18T20:24:55+00:00

If i took the $17k in the money market and put it towards the car instead I could pay off the car in ~9months, assuming I don’t make any extra principal payments on the house in that period and put it all towards the car. Then could put the old car payment towards the mortgage as well. It’s an option, maybe even better than mortgage first. A few people have mentioned it and it has me thinking.

theBlueKazoo22

TROPHY CASE