[Texas Eagle]

But you could just as easily lose your job in the 13th year of a 15 year note and have a higher payment to come up with than if you have a bad spot. True. That's why doing what I did is better. By borrowing money at the 30 year rate and making the 15 year payments, my minimum monthly payment is lower than if I had just gotten a 15 year loan.

So if I lose my job 13 years into my 30 year mortgage, I can just default to what would be my normal monthly payment.

[supercat]

So if I lose my job 13 years into my 30 year mortgage, I can just default to what would be my normal monthly payment.

Further, if I'm understanding you correctly, you can "borrow" each month an amount equal to your "extra" monthly payment, with an interest rate equal to your mortgage rate multiplied by one minus your tax bracket, with no closing costs or credit approval requirements.

If you think the prospects for your current job look iffy, you can drop your monthly payments to the base amount while you still have your job, and put that money into a reserve fund. In other words, you pay a little bit extra for the longer-term (on paper) mortgage, but in exchange for that cost you get much more flexibility.