Dear Dave,<\/p>\n
Is it ever OK to pull money out of your emergency fund to pay off your home? My husband and I were talking about this the other day, because we are so close to paying off our mortgage. We would appreciate your thoughts. <\/p>\n
Erin<\/p>\n
Dear Erin, <\/p>\n
Believe me, I understand how tempting it could be to throw a bunch of money at your house, get rid of the mortgage payments and own it outright. But, I wouldn\u2019t recommend draining your emergency fund to make it happen\u2014even if it meant being completely debt-free sooner.<\/p>\n
The only time I might suggest doing something like this is if your emergency fund is way too big, and you have a very small amount left to pay on the house. As a reminder, your emergency fund should be three to six months of expenses, not three to six months of income. And anyway, paying off your house doesn\u2019t fall into the category of an emergency. The fact that you have to pay for your house doesn\u2019t really catch anyone by surprise. <\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know how old you two are, but if you\u2019re married you\u2019ve probably already learned that life happens\u2014often when you least expect it. And the moment you write that big check, you\u2019ll have put yourself at risk. If you do something like this, you\u2019re absolutely begging for the transmission to go out in a car, the central unit to break down or the roof to spring a leak.<\/p>\n
Having a depleted emergency fund in any of those situations? That\u2019s not my definition of financial peace. <\/p>\n
\u2014 Dave<\/p>\n
Dave Ramsey is CEO of Ramsey Solutions. He has authored several best-selling books, including “The Total Money Makeover.” The Ramsey Show is heard by more than 16 million listeners each week on 600 radio stations and multiple digital platforms. Follow Dave on the web at daveramsey.com<\/a> and on Twitter at @DaveRamsey<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t \t \t \t=htmlentities(get_the_title())?>%0D%0A%0D%0A=get_permalink()?>%0D%0A%0D%0A=htmlentities(‘For more stories like this one, be sure to visit https:\/\/www.eastidahonews.com\/ for all of the latest news, community events and more.’)?>&subject=Check%20out%20this%20story%20from%20EastIdahoNews” class=”fa-stack jDialog”> \t <\/p>\n