The Best Ways to Pay a Mortgage Off Early

Paying your mortgage off faster makes you more secure, simply because you don’t have to worry about losing the home if you can’t make the payments. It’s ideal for retirement to have your home paid off, since your income will drop. And paying early will save you tens of thousands of dollars in interest.

Even if you only knock 5 years off your mortgage, that’s 5 years sooner you can retire, or 5 years’ worth of payments you can use to enjoy retirement. Here are six common approaches to making higher mortgage payments. The best is the one you can stick to based on your lifestyle, income, and budget.

1. Make an extra payment quarterly to make 4 extra payments/year. 2

. Divide one payment by 12. Add that to each monthly payment to make one extra payment a year.

3. Pay half of your payment every two weeks, also known as bi-weekly payments.

4. Round up your payments so you’re paying at least a few extra dollars a month.

5. Increase your payment when you get a raise, bonus, or other windfall.

6. Refinance your mortgage to a shorter term, which raises your payment amount, but reduces interest.