The answer depends on your interest rates. If the interest rate on your mortgage is very low, it may be better to save for college in a 529 plan that earns a higher rate of interest. If you deduct mortgage interest from federal income taxes, be sure to look at your after-tax mortgage interest rate.
From a financial perspective, it's usually best to invest your money rather than funneling extra cash toward paying your mortgage off faster. Of course, life isn't just about cold, hard numbers. There are many reasons why you might choose either to pay your mortgage early or invest more.
Generally, paying off your mortgage should improve your daughter's financial aid chances and the amount of a potential package. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known as FAFSA, doesn't count all of your assets in establishing the expected family contribution and her eligibility for aid.
If your student loan interest rates are higher than that, you'd save more money by paying them off — and avoiding interest charges — than by investing. If your student loan interest rates are less than 6%, putting extra money toward retirement or a brokerage account for nonretirement investing is a better bet.
You can usually choose between making monthly overpayments or paying off some of your balance with one lump sum. Overpaying your mortgage also means you will build up equity in your home faster and qualify for better rates. For example, with a 10 per cent deposit the average two-year fixed rate is 2.69 per cent.
A rate-lowering refinance reduces the rate of return on future extra payments, which could induce the borrower to reduce or stop such payments. However, the principal motivation for making extra payments seems to be to get out of debt faster, and the refinance won't change that.
1. There's a big opportunity cost to paying off your mortgage early. ... Another opportunity cost is losing the chance to invest in the stock market. If you put all your extra cash toward a mortgage payoff, you're losing the chance to earn higher returns and benefit from compound growth by investing in the stock market.
Aside from losing motivation, you also tie up capital in an illiquid asset when you pay your mortgage off early. Unless you have a very diversified net worth, having a lot of capital in the form of home equity can be a bad thing. Your home could collapse in the next storm or burn down in a fire.
The biggest drawback of paying off your mortgage is reducing your liquidity. It is far easier to get money out of an investment or bank account than it is to get money from the equity you've built in your home.
If your loans are in good standing, that's great news! You can go back to school. Still, you should take stock of how much you owe. If you have a lot of debt, consider paying some of it down before you head back to school—too much existing debt could mean higher interest rates on a new loan.
Most colleges won't care if you own a house and won't count home equity against you if you do. That's because the majority of schools rely on the federal aid application, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which doesn't ask parents if they own a home.
Once you've repaid—or made arrangements to repay—the excess, you'll be able to receive additional federal student aid (assuming you haven't reached the maximum amounts for all programs for which you are otherwise eligible).
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