While my goal of refinancing would be to reduce total interest by going with a 15 or 20 yr. mortgage with today's low rates, I'm trying to look at the whole picture of our finances and not just the break-even period for the refi.
Current loan is a 30 yr. fixed with 22.5 yrs. to go on $315k. Rate is 4.125%, balance is $266.5k, and the value is somewhere between 375 and 400k. Loan originated 7/2014, but in the beginning, we were making extra principal pmts.
I contribute 20% to a 401k and get a 6% employer match. That's not maxed out. My wife is a teacher and has a pretty good retirement plan, but it's also not maxed out. I contribute the annual max. to an HSA for myself. We contribute $400/mo. into a 529 plan for our kid. We have a healthy emergency fund in an HYSA. My wife and I are both 40, and we have a 3.5 year old for whom we'll be paying dependent care costs of $1125/mo. for another 2 years. We pay around $215/mo. on a student loan for my wife as part of a loan forgiveness program, so the loan's interest rate isn't a factor.
We don't earn enough to be able to max out all investments and also refinance, so would it ever make sense to prioritize refinancing our mortgage if the current rate is 4.125%? Should we just leave it alone and focus on retirement and other investment accounts? We're basically trying to be financially responsible in a bunch of different areas without actually knowing what we're doing.
Submitted October 13, 2019 at 05:48PM by blubber_the_whale https://ift.tt/2oFNHPF
