Photo by Mikey BurtonWe live in an instant gratification society. Many young people have become house-poor having purchased a home at the top range of what they were approved for (even though the standards today of what percentage of income your mortgage should be are way higher than they were two generations ago). Not only that, but 30-year mortgages are the new standard since it our allows for more house spread out over many more years. If you’re a millennial, I guarantee you, your grandparents had a ten or fifteen-year mortgage and had it paid off before your parents were in high school (if they had a mortgage at all.)

 

Even after the fairly recent housing bubble popped, few people actually wised up, the banks just refused to issue mortgages to unqualified or poorly qualified people. It didn’t stop folks from investing in a home that they couldn’t really afford. When you spend the rest of your adult life paying off your house, you can’t save for your kids’ college,  you have nothing left for retirement, so you work until you’re in your 80’s, and then you end up investing in…a reverse mortgage.

 

Don’t get caught in the trap. There are options, some require some restraint, others require a simple phone call to your mortgage company. Read “Real Simple” ‘s take on how to own your house outright sooner rather than later:

 

How To Pay Off Your Mortgage Early