What is the average age people pay off their mortgage?
That makes sense, of course, as older Americans have had a longer time to make payments. But with nearly two-thirds of retirement-age Americans having paid off their mortgages, it means that the average age they have gotten rid of that debt is likely in their early 60s.
Almost 40% of US homeowners own their homes outright as of 2022—many of them baby boomers who refinanced when rates were low.
In 2022, researchers found that just over 40 percent of homeowners older than 64 had a mortgage, a jump from roughly 25 percent a generation ago.
FIGURE | AMOUNT |
---|---|
Average mortgage debt, 2023 | $244,498 |
Average (mean) mortgage payment, 2021 | $1,427 |
Average (median) mortgage payment, 2021 | $1,001 |
Average mortgage rate, Q4 2023 (30-year fixed) | 7.30% |
Homeowners typically make their normal monthly mortgage payments and expect to pay off their homes over 30 years. However, there are ways to pay it off even faster using three proven strategies.
Nearly 40% of U.S. homeowners were living mortgage-free in 2022, according to a Bloomberg analysis of Census Bureau data.
By the numbers: The share of mortgage-free U.S. homes has jumped from 34.3% to 39.3% in the past decade, per the census data. Between the lines: There can be a psychological perk to paying off a loan early, but according to some personal finance experts, it could be smarter to invest that money instead.
Average Retirement Debt: The Numbers
Three in 10 devote more than 40% of their monthly income to debt and a quarter have a mortgage with more than 20 years remaining on it. More than half say they intend to enter retirement debt free, but only one-quarter of retired Boomers actually are debt free.
More Than 10 Million People 65 and Older Have a Mortgage — Here's Where They Make up the Largest Share of Homeowners. Jacob Channel is a Senior Economist for LendingTree.
‌But retiring with debt is an entirely different‌ ‌story. The challenge of living comfortably on a fixed income becomes even more difficult when you must pay recurring bills with interest. ‌However, according to a study by the personal finance site MagnifyMoney, 46% of all Americans are expecting to retire in debt.
How much do most people owe on their mortgage?
The average mortgage debt balance per household was $241,815 as of Q2 2023, a 4 percent increase from 2022. The average mortgage balance exceeds $1 million in 26 U.S. cities, including 18 cities in California.
The Standard Route is what credit companies and lenders recommend. If this is the graduate's choice, he or she will be debt free around the age of 58. It will take a total of 36 years to complete. It's a whole lot of time but it's the standard for a lot of people.
Mortgage payments by state
Additionally, mortgage rates vary by state. Data from the 2022 American Community Survey shows that homeowners paid a median amount of $1,775 per month. This figure includes a mortgage payment, as well as homeowners insurance costs, property taxes, utilities, and HOA fees where necessary.
Even one or two extra mortgage payments a year can help you make a much larger dent in your mortgage debt. This not only means you'll get rid of your mortgage faster; it also means you'll get rid of your mortgage more cheaply. A shorter loan = fewer payments = fewer interest fees.
Updating your insurance provider and local taxing authority
After paying off your mortgage, it might be a good idea to ensure your homeowner's insurance provider and local taxing authority have been notified of the change in your property's lien status. This responsibility typically falls upon the homeowner.
After you pay off your home, you can get your equity in a few different ways. You can sell your home to get its current market value, or you can access equity via a home equity loan or a home equity line of credit (HELOC). Other options include a reverse mortgage, cash-out refinance and shared equity investment.
Conventional Mortgages
Conventional mortgages are the most common type of mortgage. That said, conventional loans may have different requirements for a borrower's minimum credit score and debt-to-income (DTI) ratio than other loan options.
Accounting for 70% of all American debt, mortgage debt carries the highest total at $10.44 trillion. Forty-two percent of households have mortgages. (That's over 51.5 million total American households).
Around 23% of Americans are debt free, according to the most recent data available from the Federal Reserve. That figure factors in every type of debt, from credit card balances and student loans to mortgages, car loans and more. The exact definition of debt free can vary, though, depending on whom you ask.
You might want to pay off your mortgage early if …
You want to save on interest payments: Depending on a home loan's size, interest rate, and term, the interest can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars over the long haul. Paying off your mortgage early frees up that future money for other uses.
Should you retire with a mortgage?
Key Takeaways. Carrying a mortgage into retirement allows individuals to tap into an additional stream of income by reinvesting the equity from a home. The other benefit is that mortgage interest is tax-deductible. On the downside, investment returns can be variable while mortgage payment requirements are fixed.
Social Security offers a monthly benefit check to many kinds of recipients. As of December 2023, the average check is $1,767.03, according to the Social Security Administration – but that amount can differ drastically depending on the type of recipient. In fact, retirees typically make more than the overall average.
Statistics vary, but between 55 percent to 63 percent of Americans are likely living paycheck to paycheck.
Retiring with little to no money saved is not impossible, but it can present some challenges to your financial plan. Depending on where you're starting from, you may need to delay Social Security benefits, work longer, or drastically reduce expenses to retire with no money saved.
Absolutely. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act's protections extend to your mortgage term. Mortgage lenders can't deny you a specific loan term on the basis of age.
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