Zeev's Turnips Patch-No Politics (ZEEV)

[tantal]

You have some very interesting speculative ideas, but I think you are wrong about the interest payments - as the principal is reduced, the interest payment is recalculated. I liked your earlier idea of investing in some other vehicle with a guaranteed return, say a longer treasury or better, a muni.

Anyway, I wouldn't do this unless I had the means to pay off my mortgage at a moment's notice, which I do not. My goal is to build equity as quickly as possible so that I do not lose my home in the event of an economic calamity. It may be nearly worthless, but it will be mine and my family will still have a home. If I didn't need a mortgage, I would do something very similar to what you mentioned earlier, but in my situation, I intend to build equity as fast as possible, and there is no question that a 15 year will do that quicker than a 30 or 40. It starts off ahead in the first year, and rapidly increases the relative rate of principal payment compared to the 30 year.

thanks for the advice, though.

darryl