Over half of Americans claim they're nowhere near achieving their definition of financial freedom, with 36% saying they have less than $1,000 in their savings accounts.
Yes a mortgage is an investment (which can make a profit or loss just like other investments) but it is also an obligation. With a mortgage losing your job could potentially leave you homeless. That is not what I consider “financially free”. If you have a lot of cash up front you could potentially put it into higher yielding investments and make a profit on the difference between yield and mortgage rate at the end of 30 years but that takes some amount of luck and skill with investing. Especially now that mortgage rate are 7%. If you don’t have all the cash up front then taking out a 30yr 7% loan for 300k will mean you’re paying over 700k for the house with interest included.
Saving up an emergency fund to pay the mortgage if you become jobless should be a top priority for any homeowner. Priority meaning you cut back everywhere you can to generate those savings, until you have enough saved to be comfortable. Once I saved up a 6-mo emergency fund I felt much closer to financial freedom. I can have 6+ months to look for a new job if I lose mine.
Yes a mortgage is an investment (which can make a profit or loss just like other investments) but it is also an obligation. With a mortgage losing your job could potentially leave you homeless. That is not what I consider “financially free”. If you have a lot of cash up front you could potentially put it into higher yielding investments and make a profit on the difference between yield and mortgage rate at the end of 30 years but that takes some amount of luck and skill with investing. Especially now that mortgage rate are 7%. If you don’t have all the cash up front then taking out a 30yr 7% loan for 300k will mean you’re paying over 700k for the house with interest included.
Saving up an emergency fund to pay the mortgage if you become jobless should be a top priority for any homeowner. Priority meaning you cut back everywhere you can to generate those savings, until you have enough saved to be comfortable. Once I saved up a 6-mo emergency fund I felt much closer to financial freedom. I can have 6+ months to look for a new job if I lose mine.