Shall we payoff mortgage to ease tuition payement for College?

[ParentOfIvyHope]

<p>blossom:

Sorry to be an alarmist- but you are being very short-sighted if the sum total of your financial planning is to take your cash and cash equivalent and pay off the house in order to qualify for more financial aid. College last 4 years- your D has her entire working life ahead of her. You could live another 55 years, as could spouse. You’ve got 25 more years of income production, less if you get sick, hurt, or die. I understand that you’ve got your near term emergencies covered, and I understand that as long as you’re working, you’re ok. What happens between the day you retire and the next 30 years after that? Are you going to barter the furniture for groceries??? Do you have disability insurance? What happens to your wife if you get hit by a bus tomorrow and survive, but are permanently disabled?

I’m not sure if you understood the situation properly. We are not doing this to make our DD eligible for FA because if that was the case we would have done this last year and DD won’t be eligible as long as I’m employed at my current salary.
The question I asked was “If it is the right time to pay off the mortgage?”. or in other form “When is the right time to pay off mortgage?”</p>

<p>If I go thru your response then there will never be any good time to pay off the mortgage. Since we still have another 20+ years to retire we should be able to save more than our mortgage by just saving the monthly payment to a saving account with no interest.</p>

<p>

Your cash cushion is a wonderful asset which you could be using to ensure your peace of mind and your financial future. How does more financial aid do that for you??? If you lose your job then get another, your EFC goes right back up…

I’m not sure how much cash cushion is required for peace of mind.</p>