One of my favorite things is talk to younger people that find it interesting about consumer finances, especially when they have no clue and are not intellectually curious about them.
My favorite example is the 30/year mortgage.
Borrow 300,000 and pay it off with ZERO interest over 30 years/360 months, equals 833.33 dollars per month or zero interest.
Pay 7% interest for the same 30/year $300,000 mortgage and you pay $1996/month or $718,560 total or $418,560 in interest.
Borrow the same amount $300,000 and pay it off in 15 years or 180 months at 7% for $2696/month or a total of $485,280 or a total of $185,280
Always do what’s best for your finances but paying interest is poison IMO, you may have to do it sometimes, but if you can afford to avoid it, long term it’s the smart decision .
Even if you have a 30-year mortgage, if you know you can’t pay it off in 10 years, then it’s too much for your budget.