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As the old saying goes....."This has been quite a ride!" We retired here in Southern Calif with a mortgage and a very reasonable payment because we brought a lot of cash from the East coast. Here's where the roller coaster analogy comes in; We bought for approx $348K in 2001, in the ensuing 3 years the house appreciated to about $800K. We were, of course, thrilled and comfortable with that equity. Now, we have slid back to a value of about what we paid. We only owe about $200K so we are still comfortable.

Gosh friends.... what a great response to a personal question! I'm really impressed with how much you are willing to share amongst our small group. That's good, helps some of us out I think in guessing what is do-able or not. Sometimes I assumed almost no mortgages in retirement, boy was I wrong. No right or wrong with this, just different.
I'm in a pickle but could be worse. I have a good income, a mortgage, a home equity, and credit card debt! But...I just built a get-away up north and it is all asset.
Son a sophmore in HS, and a wife with an unsteady income, and a daughter w/baby going to school of hard knocks (who is constantly hitting $$ on me) and you can see where I'll be working for a while! (recently graduated son at UPS, and he is a saver).
THANKS AGAIN....WOW, GOOD REPORTS :)

No mortgage, only my car payment. So.Cal life way expensive, but I love it here, so I supplement my retirement income with something fun, sharing what I do with others. Many take vitamins supplements in the form or pills, capsules, liquids, etc. I wear them (^_^). I earn good money and I have fun talking about what I wear, mostly because not only I live free of pain, but help other become healthy, pretty, and wealthy. "If you do what you love and love what you do, you'll never work another day in your life." So, I am having fun!

Great to meet you all!

HappyGirl47

I retired without a mortgage. I lived in the same house for 31 years and have not intention of upgrading to another house. I have used the equity in my home to repair the roof, rain cutter etc. but that also has been paid off.

Retired 1982. Age 48. 10 years left on the mortgage. Was 16,000 at 5.5% in 1962 so payment was low. About 197.00 mo. I think so no problem. Have continued work at jobs I like mostly driving for not much money but a lot of satisfaction

As is described on my homepage, I retired in 2001, after having PAID OFF my mortgage (30 yr. loan paid off in 12 yrs.!) Nose to the grindstone; no husband or children to distract me from my goal of having that burden off my shoulders. Eyes on the prize and all that it implies. Being debt-free is one of the most rewarding experiences that I've been blessed with, as a grown-up 'Boomer', in this era. Also having a tidy nest-egg tucked away, in lieu of a monthly mortgage payment, has played an important part of my personal retirement goals. Having a blue-chip stock portfolio has been part of the reason that I've succeeded in my quest for a strife-free lifestyle; money concerns are no longer part of my world. It took me 35 years to learn how to use money and credit wisely, and not let it rule my life. Now that I've learned that invaluable lesson, I can only foresee bright and sunny future as regards my financial circumstances. I can finally say that now I'm ready to pursue all my other interests that I had put off when I was so deeply in debt, all those years ago. Hurray for these "Golden Years"!! Namaste, D22007.

Retired without a mortgage or any other debt. My last year of working I purchased all new big cost items. My house turned 20 on the year I retired,so the timing was right for the major appliances and roof to be updated. I am glad I was able to do it, much less stress!!

I saw your question and joined the group in order to answer your very personal question. . . . I retired in the spring of 1987 at age 60. My wife retired five years later. We did have a small mortgage on our home, but we paid it off about the year 2000. It's a good feeling to have no debts. . . . . My wife and I are both teachers with about seventy-five years teaching combined. We have a modest little home with living quarters in our basement (planned for caretaker's apartment when we become old). We play at running a bed and breakfast on the main floor. No golf, not much traveling, just gardening and entertaining our occasional guests. We love it. . . . . . Thanks for allowing me to join your Squeaking Retirement Group. . . . .Bill

I retired in 2004 with a mortgage and we owned a comfortable little house. By the end of 2006 we had two homes in foreclosure. My husband wanted to move out to the country to a home we could not afford. It cost $500,000. We were promised decent house payments. We also still owned our original home and refinanced to get some cash and get a better house payment while it was for sale. Boy were we had. We were in the beginning of predator lending. You cannot imagine what it felt like to sit down and sign papers that had completely different figures than were agreed upon. It is so confusing that you believe whatever the lender tells you. Promises are never kept. We could not afford the payments. Never sold the first home and could not refinance in three months like we were promised. We lost everything and have been renting for two years. We had a mortgage, but now we don't. I would give anything to own a house again, but it will be awhile before that will happen.

not at all