How much money would it take for you to be 100% debt free?

[Eliminator21vdrive]

35 k left on house only and should be zero by the end of the year.

 

[McKay]

I never had a mortgage to be honest . I started out when I was 20 years old I bought a house to rent out for 40k . I sold it 6 years later after renting it for 278k. I picked up two more houses with that and some other cash invested. Right now I’m in my house debt free roughly 800k value and another house rented with about 650k values and no note. I started at the best possible time with houses in the mid 90’s. Sold at the height then bought at the bottom again. A lot of luck and a ton of labor working around the clock . But it’s a nice place to be. The only down side to no mortgage is coming up with the tax money every year. The two houses cost me 27k a year . Fucking New York sucks. And now I can only write off 15k of it. So I pay on income tax I spent on tax.

That's alright with us that live in red states. Not fair for us that have fiscally responsible representatives.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

That's alright with us that live in red states. Not fair for us that have fiscally responsible representatives.

It was a genius move by the Republicans. Raise taxes on those that won’t vote for you anyway.

It was great watching the Libs bitch about their taxes going up

 

[River Runnin]

If I tell ya! I be expecting a money order!

 

[badgas]

I love my mortgage debt. 30yr fixed at 2.375%. I can make more than that in my saving account so I’m not really even paying for it. Only wish I leveraged more of my house at this point.

Congrats !

That once in a lifetime free money was pretty cool for those who jumped on it.

 

[beaverretriever]

Quite amazing to see many of you with zero debt and or very little. My hats off to you (giving it to the real estate thread)

To those of you that are in the zero debt or close to the zero debt situation, do you own rental properties or are currently buying rental / real estate for investment purposes? And I mean more than one property, not just one old rental you may have had for 25 years.

Honest question. If you have zero debt, what are you doing to save for retirement? If you fall into that zero debt or close to zero debt profile, do own multiple real estate investments and why would you buy them cash or aggressively pay them off when real estate is still considered a liability of sorts?

Or are you just saving your money and hoping it's enough to get by for retirement? And that's ok if you just have piles of cash; wish I was in that position. But in reality cash in the bank becomes worth less every day and every year.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[Drew]

That's alright with us that live in red states. Not fair for us that have fiscally responsible representatives.

When trump made that law it was a giant fuck you to New York and California . I understood what he was doing but it sucks in the long run for me.

 

[TimeBandit]

Quite amazing to see many of you with zero debt and or very little. My hats off to you (giving it to the real estate thread)

To those of you that are in the zero debt or close to the zero debt situation, do you own rental properties or are currently buying rental / real estate for investment purposes? And I mean more than one property, not just one old rental you may have had for 25 years.

Honest question. If you have zero debt, what are you doing to save for retirement? If you're a zero debt person, do own multiple real estate investments and why would you buy them cash or aggressively pay them off when real estate is still considered a liability of sorts?

Or are you just saving your money and hoping it's enough to get by for retirement? And that's ok if you just have piles of cash; wish I was in that position. But in reality cash in the bank becomes worth less every day and every year.

Thanks for the replies.

Having zero debt allows you to save. No payments every month means all your income is yours.

My wife and I live a pretty simple life, I have lots of toys, but they are mostly old like me.... and were bought with cash.

And yes, having a rental or two is the cherry on top, if they are paid for. Being leveraged won't help you sleep, and non paying renters during covid proved that to many.

Spend less than you make, pay everything off asap and see how it feels!

 

[bonesfab]

I only owe on two houses. All the toys are paid for. Haven't had a new car in 15 years and don't plan on it.

 

[beaverretriever]

Having zero debt allows you to save. No payments every month means all your income is yours.

My wife and I live a pretty simple life, I have lots of toys, but they are mostly old like me.... and were bought with cash.

And yes, having a rental or two is the cherry on top, if they are paid for. Being leveraged won't help you sleep, and non paying renters during covid proved that to many.

Spend less than you make, pay everything off asap and see how it feels!

"No payments every month means all your income is yours?".

Unfortunately nobody's income is all theirs, so you have to do what you can to keep as much of it as you can by using avenues that help reduce taxes. If your money isn't working for you, it's losing value every day from the gov taking it to inflation eating away at your savings. I understand having some money in the bank is a requirement just to have some liquid and everyone should have some saved. However, it makes no sense to have everything paid off and just having your money sit in a savings account; IMHO of course. But what do I know?

Keep in mind, I am not investment guru, but we try. Paying mortgages on multiple rental properties but having renters actually pay the mortgage (or most of the mortgage) for the investor so the investor can keep their cash to buy or use for other things, like more down payments on more investment properties.

I guess I am ok with some debt if that debt is making me money or the cost of money to borrow is so low, I can use my cash in other ways.

To be honest, the easiest way in life is to have everything paid off and money in the bank, it truly is. Investing properly, and managing debt takes a ton of work and can be scary so I know why so many don't do it.

I'm just a cog in the big wheel trying to make it like everyone else. Asking these questions so I can learn!

 

[TimeBandit]

@beaverretriever said:

To be honest, the easiest way in life is to have everything paid off and money in the bank, it truly is.

Bingo!

 

[beaverretriever]

@beaverretriever said:

To be honest, the easiest way in life is to have everything paid off and money in the bank, it truly is.

Bingo!

Easy or smart? Pick one.

I'm not saying everyone should take out loan after loan and get themselves in deep to buy investments. However, the "smart" money says, don't just let your cash sit in a savings or checking account. You are just giving it away, every day and every year.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

Easy or smart? Pick one.

I'm not saying everyone should take out loan after loan and get themselves in deep to buy investments. However, the "smart" money says, don't just let your cash sit in a savings or checking account. You are just giving it away, every day and every year.

Depends on how much is sitting there

 

[beaverretriever]

Depends on how much is sitting there.

And I did mention that. If I had 10million sitting in an account that was making 5% or more woulsdI be investing? Maybe, maybe not. But I'm sure anyone who has 10mil or more sitting in an account prob invested to get there.

 

[LuauLounge]

Watching the younger generation graduating with 6 figure college debt, trying to deal with housing, autos, etc is mind boggling to me. First house was 36K, first new car was $8k, fuel was 40 cents, energy wasn't even mentioned.
Fortunately, I got introduced to boating and that took care of any spare funds for the following 40 years.

 

[Waterjunky]

I owe on my house and a rental. I also owe on the RV and one vehicle. Everything else is paid off. Have a reasonable investment account and could empty it to pay off a big chunk of the debt but make more money on it than I lose in interest by about double or better. The vehicle is solidly positive on the loan and the other three are all about 1/3 or less of value.
The plan is to have it all paid off before my son graduates HS. This will allow me to focus resources if needed for higher education. It will also allow me to focus and "top up" retirement plans.
All this said, I am considering starting a business that will gobble up a huge chunk of assets. Probably going to have to sell the rental to fund along with a very sizeable loan.
As said before, no risk - no reward.......

 

[Ultra...Good]

Watching the younger generation graduating with 6 figure college debt, trying to deal with housing, autos, etc is mind boggling to me. First house was 36K, first new car was $8k, fuel was 40 cents, energy wasn't even mentioned.
Fortunately, I got introduced to boating and that took care of any spare funds for the following 40 years.

 

[clarence]

To those of you that are in the zero debt or close to the zero debt situation, do you own rental properties or are currently buying rental / real estate for investment purposes? And I mean more than one property, not just one old rental you may have had for 25 years.

Honest question. If you have zero debt, what are you doing to save for retirement? If you fall into that zero debt or close to zero debt profile, do own multiple real estate investments and why would you buy them cash or aggressively pay them off when real estate is still considered a liability of sorts?

Or are you just saving your money and hoping it's enough to get by for retirement? And that's ok if you just have piles of cash; wish I was in that position. But in reality cash in the bank becomes worth less every day and every year.

Is this a trick question?

Third option: invest in the market.

 

[beaverretriever]

Is this a trick question?

Third option: invest in the market.

I say investment properties, but I mean investments as a whole. I should have been more clear.

Do the zero debt people that don't own property have investments such as the market?

I usually see a trend of the old school thought of all cash, no debt but also no investments either. Just a bunch of cash or not a bunch of cash in the bank.

 

[clarence]

I say investment properties, but I mean investments as a whole. I should have been more clear.

Ah.

Do the zero debt people that don't own property have investments such as the market?

Yes.

 

[SLT Kota]

Somehow I have just enough to feel rich and broke at the same time...

 

[monkeyswrench]

@beaverretriever , I think everyone has a different situation to some extent. Single, divorced, married and remarried...kid, no kids, old kids young kids. Having aging parents can play into it, not because they didn't plan for retirement, but health and situations may cause the offspring to use time, or funds.

Right or wrong, I'll work until I die. It may be next week, or in a few decades. I don't regret those decisions, they've allowed me a lot of freedom to be a father like I should have been all along. So far so good, we'll see how the story ends.

 

[DLC]

Saturday February 4, 2023
I plan to have a $325,000,000.00 Tax bill…. Numbers may go up slightly….


Then I’ll be debt free….

At Least that’s my plan.

Some people said I failed to plan…. And I say nope ! I have planned on this for 25 years….


And if for some Lame reason it doesn’t Happen, Then I plan for the Next Drawing….

 

[JL95]

Man what

 

[beaverretriever]

@beaverretriever , I think everyone has a different situation to some extent. Single, divorced, married and remarried...kid, no kids, old kids young kids. Having aging parents can play into it, not because they didn't plan for retirement, but health and situations may cause the offspring to use time, or funds.

Right or wrong, I'll work until I die. It may be next week, or in a few decades. I don't regret those decisions, they've allowed me a lot of freedom to be a father like I should have been all along. So far so good, we'll see how the story ends.

Aging parents is definitely on my mind. My father is in rough shape amd wed like to have place big enough for my mother and father. However, they will stay in thier home until my father passes. At that time we will see what's next. Probably have my mom move in with us.

 

[monkeyswrench]

Aging parents is definitely on my mind. My father is in rough shape amd wed like to have place big enough for my mother and father. However, they will stay in thier home until my father passes. At that time we will see what's next. Probably have my mom move in with us.

My friend bought the house across the street. Mostly, to have the guest house for his parents. His father had MS. He and his wife barely could afford it at the time...but it worked out.

 

[baja-chris]

I selectively carry mortgage debt equivalent to roughly 10% of my net worth. Primary and first vacation homes paid off. All cars, boats and toys paid for. We sleep well with this amount of debt.

 

[Dan Lorenze]

Saturday February 4, 2023
I plan to have a $325,000,000.00 Tax bill…. Numbers may go up slightly….

Me too… Gonna be ugly. I might as well show up drunk to my tax appointment.

 

[DLC]

Me too… Gonna be ugly. I might as well show up drunk to my tax appointment.

That’s my come to Jesus moment every year…..

alt min tax is a real bitch.
it’s stock crap….

 

[Good Stuff]

Probably $700k. O-shit number is about $6k a month if rental became vacant and we didn’t eat out or travel. Even in a terrible market we could walk from the rental with money that could knock away a good portion of debt since we bought in 2010. That’s before current SoCal Gas bills.

I know a guy who cashed out everything at least once a year to 80% and added to his properties until the past 18 months or so. I don’t have those balls/desire to bankrupt my family but he’s been doing well still with rental income. Maybe he’s smarter than me but he’s bald and I have all my hair still.

 

[jet496]

Debt free. Own couple of rentals that just got paid off over time as we through a few extra bucks at them to do so. We save some of it, invest in stocks & bonds, just enjoying not worrying about money & right now paying attention to the real estate market. There's not much opportunity out there but I actually saw the first property (industrial bldg) in a long time that I actually like. That's a good sign.

 

[t&y]

Interesting thread. As of today I only need $47,659,458,943.01 to be square.... but I have real low interest rates on everything so I think I'm good.