Senate Passes Sweeping Republican Tax Overhaul Bill

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Originally Posted by Irving

If you weren't itemizing before, then you weren't writing off your mortgage interest anyway. You just went from a $12,000 standard deduction for a married couple, to a $24,000 standard deduction for a married couple. You just benefited $12,000. If you were itemizing to write off your mortgage interest, then it was probably over $12,000, but way less than $24,000. So, just like below, feels bad, but still better. I called my accountant to specifically ask your question.

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Never had a mortgage until May 2017, so correct... but, there was nothing to write off. However, I would not have purchased if there is in fact no monetary benefit to do so. The way the loan officer explained it made it sound like it was a separate deduction. She explained it because I balked at a higher monthly living cost and she explained we could deduct and thus the mortgage actually = lower than rent. In fact, it seems, all I have done is raise my costs without lowering my owed amount. I might still not be understanding it correctly.

For this coming tax season, without knowing your income, loan amount or interest rate, I'd guess you probably would end up having around 6k or so of mortgage interest. So if you itemize on the 2017 taxes you file in 2018, you'll end up getting the 6k of mortgage interest, plus possibly some extra deduction for closing costs and points, plus maybe 4-5 grand of state taxes, plus any charitable contributions. If that comes out to more than $12,000 for a married couple, then the mortgage interest saved you money.

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Originally Posted by CavSct1983

Never had a mortgage until May 2017, so correct... but, there was nothing to write off. However, I would not have purchased if there is in fact no monetary benefit to do so. The way the loan officer explained it made it sound like it was a separate deduction. She explained it because I balked at a higher monthly living cost and she explained we could deduct and thus the mortgage actually = lower than rent. In fact, it seems, all I have done is raise my costs without lowering my owed amount. I might still not be understanding it correctly.

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Of all the benefits of having a mortgage, the tax write off of the interest carries the least weight. If your interest rate is anywhere near the inflation rate, then you're basically getting free money, so don't get wrapped up in playing mortgage vs no mortgage in your head.

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Originally Posted by Irving

so he'll be able to help people for less money out of their pocket.

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I like how you stated that.

The story just keeps getting better and better- now they're absolutely roasting MSNBC saying that they'll benefit quite a bit from the Tax Bill, and Fox News' Jeffrey McCall had some funny stuff to say:

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“A bigger quandary might be whether these personalities will take any benefits from the new, lower income tax rates. Those decisions will be made in private, I presume, but there's nothing to stop people from continuing to pay at the higher level, if their moral compasses suggest they should be paying a higher share of their income to the feds,”

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The full story is pretty good: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment...e-to-hate.html

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Originally Posted by DenverGP

For this coming tax season, without knowing your income, loan amount or interest rate, I'd guess you probably would end up having around 6k or so of mortgage interest. So if you itemize on the 2017 taxes you file in 2018, you'll end up getting the 6k of mortgage interest, plus possibly some extra deduction for closing costs and points, plus maybe 4-5 grand of state taxes, plus any charitable contributions. If that comes out to more than $12,000 for a married couple, then the mortgage interest saved you money.

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Got the PDF 1098 for this yesterday.

Total mortgage interest paid in 2017: 6708.85

Should convince the wife to move to the woods outside Nederland and live in a broken down RV. I hear they have a no-cost HOA cleanup crew. LOL

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Originally Posted by CavSct1983

Got the PDF 1098 for this yesterday.

Total mortgage interest paid in 2017: 6708.85

Should convince the wife to move to the woods outside Nederland and live in a broken down RV. I hear they have a no-cost HOA cleanup crew. LOL

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Just pay that shit off.

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Originally Posted by Jer

Just pay that shit off.

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?

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Originally Posted by CavSct1983

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Your mortgage. No mortgage = no interest paid. It amazes me how many people believe they have 30 years to pay off a mortgage.

Sure. Let me just get the printing press up and running.

ETA: We just purchased our shiny slave collar in May 2017. Your advice is objectively true, but it's also absolutely ignorant in its application. Unless, of course, you have a line on some manner in which income can be greatly increased in a rapid manner. Even if I had no taxes deducted from my pay, and automagically devoted all of it to paying the mortgage, it would take me 3.5 years to end at a $0 balance.

Your response will probably be an equally ignorant retroactively inapplicable bit of advice like "buy a cheaper house". Sure. In the e-3 infested crappy neighborhoods where police are a real thing, and so are the mice, copious amounts of white, black, and Hispanic trash driving property values into the gutter, and so old that repairs and upgrades would probably offset the cost difference without seeing much benefit on the back end of the buy/sell dynamic.

My goal is not to stay here. My goal is to be in a place, in a neighborhood, with an actual chance of rising in value and then to sell and move to a different state: current contender is northern Alabama due tot he proliferation of DoD contract work (read: good money) coupled with a very, very low cost of living. All I'm doing is hedging against rent increases, while not having to deal with a landlord that decides he'd rather bring in a tenant who will trash his property just to make an extra 50 bucks a month on them.

I get it. I listen to Dave Ramsey too. But let's be realistic. I'm not going to have paid off this place in another year or even 5 years. I'm hoping to shift it to someone else inside 2 years.