Mortgages, Home Equity, and Retirement Spending

“Is home equity included in net worth when calculating a retirement budget?”

“Is having a mortgage in retirement risky?”

“Was it a good idea for you (Go Curry Cracker) to get a mortgage?”

These questions (and others of a similar genre) are amongst the more popular we have received over the years. (Even more so now that we bought a house.)

Today I want to review mortgages, home equity, and related questions as they pertain to retirement budgeting and spending.

Let’s go.

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Working With Wood

Prior to this time a year ago, I had never purchased lumber in my life.

But then I walked into one of those big box home improvement stores to purchase some outdoor furniture for the deck and the pool, and I was blown away by how poorly all of that stuff was made. And they wanted thousands of dollars for this junk… stuff that was probably going to break in just a season or two.

So… I set out to make my own. “How hard could it be?”

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A Coastal Road Trip

Road trips are fun. We recently returned from a 500-mile route in the EV and a great time was had by all.

We spent 5-days / 4-nights on the road, visited an aquarium, an amusement park, and a few beaches, and had some delicious sushi and greek cuisine.

Travel hacking was involved, naturally. All 4 hotel nights were “free” and we spent ~$0 on fuel.

Let’s explore.

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