Yeah, the market is doing great. I've been buying into the bear for this whole downturn, and in the short-term at least things are going well again. Obviously they'll go down again at some point and others can wag their fingers at me, but I'm optimistic.
Get your Tim Geithner TAX CHEAT! stamps!
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The comment login system is acting strange. If you get an error message saying you aren't logged in when you are, just reload the comment page and try again. I'm trying to track this bug down, but it's not easy.
MW: just wondering how you have the facility to make early mortgage payments? How do you decide whether to put money towards that off or to invest in your stocks?
(This seems like a horrifically personal question in the UK, but it's probably ok to ask things like this in America. If it isn't, sorry! Interested though -- your comments about the market, and responses to my questions about it, have been most instructive btw.)
typo: that should be "*whether* you have the facility..."
jez: I'm not sure if I understand what you're asking. It appears you're asking two questions:
Q1. How can I afford to make early mortgage payments? A1. I'm not making early mortgage payments.
Q2. How I decided whether to do that, or invest. A2. I'm not sure how it is in the UK, but mortgage interest in America is tax-deductible. Factoring the tax deduction, the interest rate on my house is much lower than the interest I can earn investing my family's money (in the stock market and in other ways). My investment portfolio has been returning more than 20% a year for a while now, so it's well worth it to me to pay my house off as slowly as possible.
Are those what you're asking? I'm not sure how personal the questions are, but I don't take any offense.
Gosh, how long have you been getting >20% for? That sounds really good. Are you doing exceptionally well out of the market? (I suppose you must be, otherwise funds could offer similar returns.)
How much time do you devote to this?
Did you (consider) borrow(ing) more than you needed in order to invest?
My instinct has always been to repay debt as fast as possible, unless it's totally interest free. Clearly a more soft-kneed attitude is sensible.
jez: I've been getting market-beating returns since I started making real money in ~1998. Greater than 20% per year since 2001 basically. I don't devote a lot of time to my investments really, and I don't invest borrowed money (except in the sense that I invest money instead of paying my mortgage down faster).
Paying down debt is nice, but interest rates have been so far below market returns that it can cost you a lot to pay faster than you have to. Of course, paying off a loan at x% is a risk-free gain of x% per year, whereas market returns often fluctuate and often go down for long stretches.