| thx1139 said: Between my wife and I our kids are exempt from estate taxes for the first $10.5 million of our estate. OK we are doing very well, but not that well. Well I am a firm believer of measureing return on investment. Paying off a 3% mortgage with money i could have in liquid investments is poor money management in my opinion. As for the LOC if I have the discipline to invest I have the discipline to keep the LOC at a low enough amount. In reality I rarely every use it. |
See, in MN, we already begin getting taxed after $1 million (so I believe it would be $2 million for a married couple).
Regarding the "poor" money management, as I said, I would certainly have more money in my retirement if I took the full 30 years to pay off the mortgage. But it isn't always about having the max amount of money...there is a tradeoff. And for me, I'd much rather have 20 years of being debt free and never worrying about a mortgage payment again. The decision especially becomes clear when even assuming unrealistically low raises, etc, I will have several million in retirement, which is more than I will need for the style of life I desire.
Regarding the LOC, whether a rich person does it really doesn't mean much, as a lot of rich people are notoriously terrible with their money (perfect example would be leasing instead of buying stuff). I've never really had, nor ever see myself having the need for what you refer to as short term cash via a loan, though. I have a philosophy you should just have a decent chunk of liquid money available, so if anything happens, it really never becomes a concern in the first place (once again, I could certainly invest this and make more money, but its the idea that I don't need that much more anyways).
Money can't buy happiness. Just video games, which make me happy.
