If We'd Made This One Decision, Our Entire Financial Situation Would Be Different

My husband and I have never been good about sitting still. Once we finished college, we committed ourselves to following his career. I could work from just about anywhere, so the decision seemed logical. I can't begin to count the benefits of opening ourselves up to new opportunities, people, and experiences. We've been to places and met people who have enriched our lives immeasurably. But we've also paid a price.

Our decision

Throughout the years, we've moved 24 times. Except for staying put long enough for our boys to get through middle school and high school in one city, we've always been game to go wherever he was asked. As you might imagine, this lifestyle led to us buying and selling many homes.

We'd move to a new state (or country), decide to put down roots for a while, and then move on when something "too good to pass up" came along.

As you might imagine, buying and selling homes so often means we rarely make enough money on a property to write home about. We simply did not stay in one house long enough. In fact, the only home that provided an impressive profit was the one we sold in the summer of 2022, and that was mostly due to COVID-19 and the subsequent housing shortage.

The trade-off

The decision to move so often means we've never stayed anywhere long enough to pay a mortgage off. We currently carry a mortgage and know we'll be taking it into my husband's retirement (I hope to never retire).

There is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to retirement. For example, I frequently hear experts say that people should pay their mortgages off before retirement or, at the very least, downsize. However, we've planned for a retirement with a mortgage payment, and part of that plan was paying off all other debt. As long as we have no other debt, our post-retirement budget indicates that we'll be fine.

The point is this: We know that if we'd planted deep roots and refused to move, we would not be in this boat. Any of our first five or six homes would be paid off by now. And that would have been really (really) nice. But that wasn't what we wanted. What we wanted was to experience new places and meet new people. We wanted to see more of the world.

Despite what experts say about bringing a mortgage with us into retirement, we have no regrets. How could we? We have friends scattered across the globe, and memories of places we never thought we would ever get to visit.

But every decision comes at a cost. We traded a potential mortgage-free life for one of travel and experiences. While we're convinced that it was the right choice for us, it would not be right for everyone.

Your decisions

Earlier, I mentioned that we have a post-retirement budget. Even if you're too young to ever imagine yourself growing old, a post-retirement budget can serve as a GPS, showing you where you are, informing your decisions, and giving you an idea of how much money you'll need to reach your goals.

A post-retirement budget is simple to put together, consisting of only three parts:

1. How much income you expect to receive: This includes Social Security payments, pension payments, bonds, rental income, and any other source of income you're guaranteed.
2. How much you expect to spend each month: This includes housing, food, utilities, transportation, health care, travel, and any other post-retirement dreams you'll need to pay for.
3. How long you expect to live: Let's face it; none of us knows how long we have. However, there are plenty of life expectancy calculators online to give us a rough idea.

Once you have a rough idea of how much money will be coming in and how much will be going out each month, you also have a rough idea of how much you'll need to save and invest.

A single visit with a good financial advisor will let you know if you're on the right track. If you're nervous about meeting with a financial advisor because you're afraid you don't have enough money or are embarrassed about past financial mistakes, don't let that stop you. Financial advisors have seen it all, and nothing about you or your financial situation will shock them.

Last year, Bloomberg reported that nearly 40% of all U.S. homeowners own their homes outright. I may not be among them, but that's okay. I have a plan of my own, and so can you.