Are you focused on eliminating debt from your life? Maybe you should be focusing on having the right kind of debt instead.
When is debt ever a good thing? Debt is a good thing when it adds to your investment profile and when it gives you an opportunity to build your long term wealth. There are many ways you can use debt to secure your financial future.
Before you rush out to borrow money on your credit cards, take a moment to realize that some debt is good, and some debt are bad. Credit card debt will never improve your life, but there are several types of loans that will help you out long term financially.
The two best types of debt are mortgages and home equity loans. In the past, many home owners focused on paying off their mortgage as quickly as possible, and home equity loans were not even a consideration.
But times are changing. Nowadays, a mortgage or a home equity loan can add to your net worth. The key to this philosophy is using your mortgage or home equity loan to improve your assets.
Think about how most people hurry to pay off their mortgage. Usually, they take out a 15 year loan, or opt to include extra money monthly to be applied to the principle. The idea is the faster you pay off your mortgage, the more secure your retirement will be.
That will certainly pay off your mortgage quickly, but at what cost? If you are fairly young or middle aged, your retirement is far enough in the future that you do not have to be focused only on it. Instead, when you pay more each month, you have less available money from your paycheck.
Instead of paying off your mortgage, you could be using the extra money for investments. And when you use that money for investments now, you will be working towards your future and your retirement. You could be using that money to invest in stocks, or even take out another mortgage on an investment property.
Home equity loans will also provide you with cash, but it is not necessarily a good idea to use the cash for investment. When you compare the interest you would pay on a home equity loan against the return on investment, it does not really make sense. Instead, you could take the cash from a home equity loan to pay off high interest credit cards or loans. Again, you free up more of your monthly income to invest in other things.
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