He may have been saying that he needed the longer term so that he can afford the monthly payments. 15 year mortgage saves on interest, but you're monthly goes up a considerable amount.
Good timing for this thread. About to take on $150K of debt for school - Wahoo! Any good advice on what to look for to maximize my chances at a great refi in 2 years, let me know. Have 800+ credit. For private MBA loans, seeing 5.25-6.75% on 10-15 years fixed rate or 3.25-4.9% on variable.
I used to be like you before I achieved true enlightenment. Seriously, it's great and all to minimize interest payments and spend as little as possible 'in the long-run.' Somewhere along the way, especially as my responsibilities grew and my financial picture became more complicated, I realized I was buying something pretty valuable with my interest payments. I no longer think that taking long debts is sacrificing my long-term finances for short-term gains. I locked in low-interest rate deals when they were available -- I bought money cheaply -- which allows me to do other things with my money that are more valuable than a couple of percentage points of interest. Looking at interest rate dollars spent isn't holistic enough; it doesn't account for all the benefits you get, which can't all be easily quantified. So don't worry about me. I'm in a good place. (And the student loans, except the little cheap one on a slow burn, are all gone now; it's just the mortgage that's left.)
