Welcome to Project 100-10-10. No, this is not a school project or a “save-the-planet” initiative. This project focuses on Helping 100 Families Pay off Their Mortgage in 10 Years, with the bigger goal of helping 1,000,000 families pay off their mortgage in 10 years.
As a Real Estate Investor and Real Estate Coach, I realize that few people with a mortgage have the knowledge and tools to pay their mortgage off FASTER, and why it’s in their best interest to do so. Other than the regular payments, they would make to their banks for principal and interest, very few families actually think they can pay off their mortgages sooner. This was an astounding fact for me to find out.
I therefore dedicate Project 100-10-10 to everyone who wants to become mortgage-free faster. It is possible to pay off your mortgage in 10 years, of course subject to certain conditions. Let’s say it will take extra five years (or 15 years), well, isn’t that better than 25 years? Wouldn’t that be worth the cost of this book?
Although there is information useful for the first time home buyers, this book does not go into details of the purchasing process. We are assuming you have some understanding of the house-buying process, and have discussed mortgages and real estate. Here are a few reasons why we wrote this book:
1. Not everyone is familiar with the various ways of paying off a mortgage. In later chapters, you will find four different ways to pay off your mortgage faster. These options are available to everyone with a mortgage – and best of all, there’s no extra cost involved.
2. The faster you pay off your mortgage, the less interest you’ll pay. This is hands down one of the best reasons for you to pay off your mortgage as quickly as possible. As every situation is different, we’ll present you with various scenarios enabling you to see how much interest (this is your money) you’d potentially save. You might be surprised to find that you can actually save $50k - $200k if you were to pay off your mortgage sooner.
The sooner you pay off your mortgage the more equity you’ll be able to access. Tapping into your equity can grow your net worth and help you achieve financial security.
This book also focuses on life’s curveballs, as this will affect us becoming mortgage-free faster. We have a “plan” of what we want in our life, but sometimes, life throws us a curveball and it takes us off the path that we have envisioned for ourselves. We go through a few of these curveballs in some detail to show you how your ‘plan’ to pay off your mortgage faster could get affected. But we also give you some solutions that might work for you to get back on track.
Some commonly asked questions about paying off your mortgage are also dissected in this book. For example, ‘If I have some extra money, is it better to contribute to my RRSP or to pay off my mortgage?’ We will also look at ‘Is it better to pay off my mortgage or put any extra money I have into my kids education fund (RESP)?’ You might be very surprised at the recommendation that we make. If you’re not then you might be on your way to paying off your mortgage faster than you realize.
So why should you listen to us. What makes Eugene and me an “expert”? I use air quotes here, as you should seek third party advice. Over the last 20 years, I have paid off my mortgage at least twice on two of my properties and once on my other two. That said, as soon as I build enough equity I pull it out to make another investment. Therefore, overall, I am not mortgage-free, as I actually never got down to $0. Except for the fact that I’ve gotten below the $100k mark and I’ve gotten to the point where I’ve increased and renewed my mortgages three times over.
Throughout the book, we've used Ajoe as an example of the average Joe to explain some of the numbers and content. This book contains four sections. The first section outlines some basic mortgage concepts. You might be surprised to learn some new aspects in section 1. Section 2 focuses on how to pay off your mortgage faster. Options are provided in a buffet-style. Meaning not all of it will apply to you, but you can test them out or pick the ones that you want. In Section 2, you’ll learn about the GLAD – a method to pay off your mortgage faster. Section 3 covers the unexpected events – and how these events may affect your mortgage. Here we try to focus only on situations that are within your control. Section 4 talks about Project 100-10-10. Join this program or refer a family member who would like to pay off their mortgage faster.
When you do become mortgage-free, take some time to reflect on this huge achievement. Share your experience with your friends and other families so they too can pay off their mortgage sooner.
All the best of luck to you and your family on becoming mortgage-free.
Huong
All of the recommendations in this book are for entertainment purposes only. Thus, we highly recommend that you speak to your accountant, lawyer, and/or your financial advisor. Now keep in mind, some of the recommendations we make in this book will be very controversial with your financial advisor, accountant and or lawyer. It is therefore up to you to make a decision that best fits your family‘s needs.