Home equity loan — Tap into IRA to pay it off?
My wife and I have approximately $108,000 to pay on our home equity loan. It is a variable rate based on prime plus .25%. In April 2022 the rate was 3.33% and it has gone up 6.33% in 6 months. It is a 30 year loan and we have 20 years left. The interest payment went from $321 a month to about $549. At this rate I figured the interest over the next 20 years will be approximately $110,000. Our affordable payment each month is between $1,000 and $1200. Our combined income is $88,000 a year. Our house is paid off and worth about $440,000. My wife is 59 and i am 59.7 and we plan to retire at 62. We have enough money to live comfortably when we retire. I want to pay off the loan using our IRA accounts. I have a roller over and my wife has a traditional. My thinking is to pay off $54,000 this year and $54,000 in 2023. This will put us in a higher tax bracket for 2 years but I think this is the better route than paying all that interest. What is your thought.
Terry Says
But how will you live “comfortably” in retirement with no IRA???
Can you figure out how to pay double that amount every month to pay down the Home Equity loan?
Are you sure you don’t want to sell the home, pay off the loan balance, and downsize, or rent?
How about postponing retirement — working longer, making double monthly payments, and paying it off so you have a “free and clear” home when you retire?
I get the math — just worried that you will be living maybe 30 years in retirement with no savings!