Paying off mortgage with a 401k
My husband and I will start collecting social security in five years at the age of 65 for each of us. He will retire at that time. I am already retired. We still owe a mortgage. Should we cash out our 401k to pay the mortgage off now so we don’t have those payments in our retirement years? To live on we would have my small retirement monthly payment, mine and his social security as well as his pension. Any thoughts on this scenario would be greatly appreciated.
Terry Says
Absolutely NOT!! I hope you refinanced your mortgage to well under 5%. If you want to stay in your home, keep paying the mortgage. And don’t let your husband start collecting SS until your full retirement age!
Your real financial problem is that YOU retired way too soon! What you really need is another job to keep you afloat until age 68, when you start collecting SS.
Just moving the pieces around won’t solve the real problem: you don’t have enough money!
At some point you will sell your home and rent, likely in a senior community. So keep building equity in your home. Then when you can’t afford the higher property taxes and insurance, you’ll know it’s time to sell. And in the meantime, choose the most conservative investments inside the 40l(k) plan.
