By Kevin M
Two of the most important components of retirement planning are a generous retirement savings plan and a mortgage free home. But if limited resources force you to make a choice, which goal should get the lion’s share of your extra income?
There are three basic choices:
1) Emphasize retirement and let the mortgage slowly amortize itself into extinction
2) Throw all extra funds at the mortgage, and once it’s paid you’ll have even more money to put into retirement
3) A hybrid plan where you try to do both at the same time
This isn’t a good solution-bad solution debate. There are plusses and minuses no matter which way you go, and fortunately all three can get us where we need to go. Which one we choose will depend largely on individual circumstances and preferences.
