Friday, April 17, 2026
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Paying Off The Home? Not An Emergency

Dave Ramsey

Expensive Dave,

Is it ever okay to drag cash out of your emergency fund to repay your private home? My husband and I had been speaking about this the opposite day, as a result of we’re so near paying off our mortgage. We might admire your ideas. 

Erin 

Expensive Erin,

Imagine me, I perceive how tempting it might be to throw a bunch of cash at your own home, do away with the mortgage funds and personal it outright. However, I wouldn’t advocate draining your emergency fund to make it occur—even when it meant being utterly debt-free sooner.

The one time I may recommend doing one thing like that is in case your emergency fund is manner too huge, and you’ve got a very small quantity left to pay on the home. As a reminder, your emergency fund must be three to 6 months of bills, not three to 6 months of revenue. And anyway, paying off your own home doesn’t fall into the class of an emergency. The truth that it’s important to pay for your own home doesn’t actually catch anybody without warning.

I don’t know the way outdated you two are, however if you happen to’re married you’ve most likely already realized that life occurs—usually whenever you least count on it. And the second you write that huge test, you’ll have put your self in danger. If you happen to do one thing like this, you’re completely begging for the transmission to exit in a automotive, the central unit to interrupt down or the roof to spring a leak.

Having a depleted emergency fund in any of these conditions? That’s not my definition of economic peace.

— Dave

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