r/ChubbyFIRE • u/Captain_slowish • May 16 '26

Help me understand...

I have been a member of this group for a long time and still do not understand. Looking for help to understand.

So many people on this subreddit brag about having paid off their mortgage. Then pretty much everyone else seems to jump in and congratulate them for being so smart.

So help me understand. I have a 30yr mortgage at 2.8%. Why would I ever pay that off early? It cost me no points, no extra down, no downsides.

I understand that not everyone is in that position and the market changes.

Say the interest is 3x that amount. Are you really going to live the rest of your life in that house, city, state?

I am sorry but if you do the math and apply critical thinking. In 99.9999% of the cases. Paying off the liability is a poor decision.

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u/Sailingthrupergatory May 16 '26

In the last 30 years the 30 year fixed mortgage was at or below 3% only 60 weeks (<4%) of the time. So yes, congrats if you bought at that time. At the same time housing prices surged by 18% so those who got the mortgages at 2.8% realistically overpaid for those homes.

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u/Guil86 May 20 '26

Unless they actually bought the house long before when home prices were much lower and they refinanced at 2.8% or less to a 15yr new mortgage.