MMM: My worst year in business (and what it taught me about money)
I’m nowhere near where I was last year financially.
Not even close.
And there’s a reason for it.
My wife and I welcomed twins this year, and I took a few months off work. When I came back, I did the bare minimum for a while. I showed up, did what needed doing, and nothing more.
There was no consistency.
And if I’m being honest, we all know what actually moves the needle over time: the boring, repetitive things done consistently. The workouts. The follow-ups. The savings contributions. The mortgage payments. The habits that don’t feel exciting in the moment but compound quietly in the background.
Right now, I feel like I’m rebuilding from scratch. I’m relearning habits I let slip and rebuilding the muscle of simply showing up every day.
Naturally, my brain connected this lesson to the thing I think about most: money.
And it led me to one idea that I can’t stop thinking about.
Never go lower than your highest mortgage payment
This is not an official mortgage strategy. It’s simply a mindset that clicked for me.
Over the last few years, many homeowners saw their mortgage payments rise. Not everyone, but a large number did. And now that so many mortgages are coming up for renewal, the instinct is understandable:
“Let’s get the payment as low as possible.”
Lower payment. More breathing room. Better cash flow.
And for some people, that is absolutely the right move.
But this post is not for someone who is genuinely struggling to make payments. If life is tight, take the breathing room. Protect your household first.
This is for the person who can sustain the higher payment and is tempted to reduce it simply because the lender offers the option.
If you were already making the higher payment and surviving just fine, going back down may feel good today, but it can quietly add years to your mortgage.
Keeping the higher payment can dramatically shorten your repayment timeline and put future-you in a much stronger position.
This applies to more than mortgages
The same principle shows up in investing.
There was a stretch where I contributed $100 per month into a new corporate investment account. I knew $100 wasn’t going to change my life overnight.
That wasn’t the point.
The point was to start and to avoid going back to zero.
Consistency is not about the size of the action. It’s about refusing to shrink the habit once you’ve built it.
That $100 contribution taught me the same lesson my mortgage did:
Never go backwards.
A practical mortgage strategy: build a safety net first
Here’s the part that surprised me.
You don’t necessarily have to choose between flexibility and faster debt repayment.
One approach is to renew the mortgage with a 30-year amortization. That lowers the required monthly payment as much as possible.
Think of that as your safety net.
If you lose a job
If income drops
If unexpected expenses hit
If life gets tight
your contractual payment is lower.
Then, voluntarily increase your payment back to the amount you were already paying.
In other words, you keep the habit without locking yourself into the higher obligation.
Why not just keep the payment unchanged?
Because the contractual payment still matters.
A lower required payment can help preserve future borrowing capacity when qualifying for another property, a refinance, or other lending needs. Even if you voluntarily pay more every month, lenders often assess qualification based on the contractual obligation.
So you may be able to get:
the faster debt paydown of a higher payment, and
the flexibility and qualification benefit of a lower required payment.
That can be a powerful combination.
One important note: every lender handles voluntary payment increases differently. Some allow recurring payment increases online, while others require manual lump-sum payments or paperwork. It’s worth checking the rules before renewing.
The real lesson from this year
When I look back at this year, the biggest financial lesson wasn’t about interest rates or investments.
It was about momentum.
I lost momentum in business for a while. And rebuilding it has reminded me that progress rarely comes from dramatic actions. It comes from continuing the small actions after the excitement disappears.
The same is true for money.
Keep the investment contribution going.
Keep the mortgage payment up if you can.
Keep the savings habit alive.
Keep showing up.
If your mortgage is coming up for renewal, try reframing the question.
Instead of asking:
“What is the lowest payment I can get?”
ask:
“What payment level can I realistically maintain, and how can I structure it in the safest way possible?”
That is a very different conversation.
And it’s the same lesson as the $100 contribution. It’s the same lesson as rebuilding my business after taking time off.
Never go backwards.
The size of the step matters far less than whether you keep taking it.
