This is Optimal Finance Daily episode 1763, why we paid off our mortgage

by Julian Saunders of rich and regular.com. And I'm your host and personal finance enthusiast,

Diana Mariam. We're going to get right to it as we optimize your life.

Why we paid off our mortgage by Julian Saunders of rich and regular.com.

Imagine right outside your window is a huge tree obstructing a beautiful horizon,

and the only way for you to see that view is to cut the tree down. You spend years saving up

for an axe until one day you're ready to pick it up and start chopping. Day and night,

rain or shine hotter cold through good times and bad. With every ounce of energy you have,

you chop. On some days, the size of the tree makes you want to give up and accept that you will

never see the view you've dreamed of. Settling becomes comforting. After all, most people would be

elated to see what you already have. But one day after chopping and chopping and chopping,

you see the tree tilt. Months later, it leans some more until finally, one last swing of the axe

sends the tree tumbling down. The sound it makes is like the largest cash register you've ever

heard. And boom, a million dollar view is born. Seven years ago, if someone asked me if I ever

thought I would be mortgage free at 37, I would have said, it's possible. I would have then asked,

what amazing six-figure job opportunity did I land? I would not have believed it was possible

working a regular job and steady, persistent, unrelenting grinding. A few days after we got engaged,

sitting in a Lima Peru hotel, we devised a financial plan for our life, over meats, cheese,

and pisco sours. Paying off the mortgage was a milestone that we knew was in the realm of

possibility, just not in the immediate future. At home, we would listen to Dave Ramsey podcasts

and hear how much his guests were enjoying life now that the burden of debt was lifted.

Given our income, we would also think that we could experience that joy in a much shorter time frame.

...