Banks sell money – not financial security. The smartest thing you can do is own your own home outright. If you achieve it early enough, you’ve got an excellent chance of becoming a multi-millionaire (more about this in Step 6).

Just because the bank gives you 30 years to pay doesn’t mean you should take that long (although the banks would love you to). I meet Barefooters all the time who are debt free while they’re still in their 30s.

Most of them earn average dough, and they have another thing in common: they all made a firm decision to pay off their loan as quickly as possible – and kept their focus until they made their last repayment.

Two Solid Rules

While the media goes troppo about different ways to cut your home loan costs, most of it is fluff. In reality there are only two ways to pay down your mortgage quicker: lower your interest rate or increase your repayments. I’d suggest you do both.

By all means shop around for the best deal – independent mortgage brokers that rebate trailing commissions can save you thousands of dollars over the life of your loan. But understand that the real bang for your buck comes in making extra repayments.

If you’re both working, try and throw the bigger wage on the home loan and live off the smaller one. Making extra repayments – no matter how small – has a compounding effect that will have the bank off your back sooner.

The great thing about this plan is that you pick up momentum as you move through each step. Paying off your home early will allow you to live life on your terms, rather than your bank manager’s.