My generation has seen a lot of changes to how pretty much everything is done, including the fact that we’re the first generation to really have to worry about managing our own retirement as a whole. We were offered 401(k)s instead of pensions and left to make our way to aging gracefully without a ton of guidance.
As a Gen Xer, honestly, this is kind of fitting. We often had to make our own way because parenting when we were young was just different. We were feral, and it was fine. Except that it’s less fine when you’re trying to manage retirement with your inner agent of chaos shouting rabid thoughts about buying new Doc Martens even though you already have four pairs in the closet.
A lot of people my age are finding themselves running out of time with a fairly decent mortgage balance left. What do you do if you’re 45 and have a $300K mortgage? I have a couple of ideas.
Making a few extra payments can go a long way to paying your home off faster. Let’s say you have 20 years left on your mortgage. According to Freddie Mac research, the odds are incredibly good that your mortgage interest rate is under 4%. If you borrowed $350,000 initially at 4% on a 30-year fixed mortgage, your principal and interest payment should be about $1,670.
Even if you waited until year 10 of your mortgage to start making one extra payment of $1,670 per year, you can cut your loan term down from 360 months to 331 months, shaving 2.4 years off your note.
If you can start paying $300 extra each month in year 10, you can shorten your term even more — to 306 months, saving yourself 4.5 years. That’s money you can then put toward your retirement.
Of course, if this isn’t an older loan, it might pay to first refinance your mortgage to a better rate before trying to knock it out. We have a curated list of refinance mortgage lenders here to help you get started.
2. Plan to downsize
If you recently purchased your house and you have kids at home, paying extra might not really be an option. This is when we have to make hard decisions for the future.
The average mortgage debt for Gen Xers is just about $280,000, and your $300,000 is more than that. Being at the tail end of the generation certainly may be enough to balance it in the end, but it’s still a lot of debt to have at age 45 unless you live in a high-cost-of-living area.
This is where, as a friend, I’d suggest you raise your family, maintain your home, and plan to sell it once the kids move out. You simply can’t enter retirement with that much debt hanging over you, but you need a place to live, so your options are limited. Keeping your home’s value up and knowing it won’t be your last home can help you prepare financially and emotionally for letting go when the time comes.
In the meantime, research locations you’d like to retire to — places where the cost of living is low, the benefits of living there are high, and where you’d genuinely enjoy spending your golden years.
Also think about what you really need in a home that’s just for you or you and your partner, and take a gander at what you can buy for below the average market price there. In many cities, there are small homes, condos, and even very nice mobile homes that may be in play, depending on your needs.
You can keep an eye on mortgage rates to help plan for your future. They’re potentially much higher than when you bought your home, but change constantly, so don’t lose heart.
I’m Gen X, too, and retirement planning starts for us today
I know it’s hard to think of ourselves as being close enough to retirement to have to actually work toward it, but we are, and it is. We’ve long ago traded our wild nights for game night with the kids or movies on the couch, but now we also have to think about what we do for ourselves as we age.
Getting your housing costs under control is one of the best things you can do for Future You, so start with a plan that makes sense for your income and stick to it.