At 59, I finally own my home outright. My wife and I sold our house in California for an obscene amount of money, paid off every debt we had, and bought a home twice as large in Minnesota, for half what we sold for in California.
No mortgage. No payments. Life's sweet.
We just did the same exact thing... Sold our Southern California home for an obscene amount of money. Paid off all debts and bought a luxury Condo on the Colorado river for cash with loads of money to spare. The Condo, which we bout 18 months ago, is now worth double what we paid. I'll miss the weather in Southern California, but that's about it. I moved here 15 years ago from NY to get away from the liberal politics and the madding crowds. Well, they've caught right back up to me here in San Diego, so I'm outta here!