{"id":7041653,"date":"2026-08-19T09:33:56","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T09:33:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/business\/finance\/pay-off-your-mortgage-or-retire-early-a-real-1-4m-case-study\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T09:33:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T09:33:56","slug":"pay-off-your-mortgage-or-retire-early-a-real-1-4m-case-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7041653","title":{"rendered":"Pay Off Your Mortgage or Retire Early? A Real $1.4M Case Study"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\"\"\u201cJoe, if you had to choose between retiring as soon as possible or paying off a mortgage, what would you go for?\u201d<\/p>\n

I ask Joe that right at the top of this episode, and his answer ends up being more prophetic than either of us realized.<\/p>\n

Joe and I help Carol figure out whether paying off a low-rate mortgage early actually makes sense once she\u2019s already hit her retirement number \u2014 three years ahead of schedule.<\/p>\n

We also walk a listener through how to hire her first accountant now that her tax situation has suddenly gotten complicated, and Joe finally explains, at length, why he\u2019s not a fan of risk parity investing, even though he agrees with its biggest advocate on almost everything else.<\/p>\n

Listen Here<\/b><\/h2>\n

Apple Podcasts<\/strong><\/a>
Spotify<\/strong><\/a>
YouTube<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Listener Questions<\/h2>\n

Susanna asks:<\/strong> I\u2019ve been a DIY tax filer for years, but my situation just got a lot more complicated. My husband quit his W-2 job to start his own business, we moved to a new state with income tax, and we became landlords on a rental property that isn\u2019t quite cash-flowing yet. I don\u2019t know if I need a CPA, an EA, or something else, or how to even find and interview one. Where do I start?<\/p>\n

Carol asks:<\/strong> Since I called in a few years ago with $750,000 saved, I\u2019ve grown that to $1.4 million and I\u2019m now on track to hit my retirement goal three years early, at age 57. Most of my retirement money is in pre-tax accounts, and my plan has been to bridge the gap to age 59 and a half using my brokerage account, plus a rental condo I still owe about $124,000 on at a 4.125% rate. Now I\u2019m wondering if I should redirect my extra savings toward paying off that mortgage instead of building a bigger cash bridge. Does that make sense, or should I just focus on retiring as soon as possible?<\/p>\n

Mark asks:<\/strong> You\u2019ve talked before about building a portfolio along the efficient frontier, and I know Joe isn\u2019t a fan of risk parity investing. But if you take the efficient frontier concept to its logical extreme, doesn\u2019t it lead you toward a risk parity portfolio anyway? I\u2019ve learned a lot from Frank Vasquez\u2019s Risk Parity Radio podcast, especially about how these portfolios can perform well in different economic environments. So why is Joe against risk parity, even though he\u2019s for the efficient frontier?<\/p>\n

Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n