15 year mortgages make much more sense than 30s.
It depends.
Why? Just because of the lower interest rate? Can’t you just get a 30-year, take the extra money you were paying per month on the 15-year, invest it, and be money ahead? (I have a 15-year mortgage, so I’m wondering if you can justify my decision!)
I have always heard this and have always disagreed with it on a variety of levels.
Leaving out tax deduction issues because everyones is wildly different, one particular reason is that if you pay off a 30 year fixed in 15 years or less, you will have ended up paying a lower effective interest rate than if you started with a 15. You will also have paid out less in actual hard money.
And because the future is unknown, the 30s term provides you with a saftey net of lower payments if the need arises to have to scale back your advanced principle payments because of unforseen financial obligations, loss of some income, etc...
With a straight 15 from the beginning, you have none of these benefits at your disposal.