On a recent episode of “The Ramsey Show,” co-host George Kamel slammed a new mortgage proposal tied to President Donald Trump that would stretch home loans to 50 years.
“I say no thank you, Mr. President,” Kamel said, expressing sharp disapproval of the plan.
He connected the sentiment directly to the deeper issue at stake:
“It is a big deal to lock someone in a death pledge for the rest of their life.”
The idea, floated in a post Trump shared on Truth Social, suggested that a longer mortgage term would make housing more affordable.
“The 50-year mortgage does not make homes cheaper,” Kamel said. “In fact, it makes the housing crisis into a dumpster fire.”
The proposal reportedly came out of a meeting at Mar-a-Lago, where Federal Housing Finance Agency head Bill Pulte presented it to Trump using a poster board. Trump liked the idea enough to post it online, and the FHFA has since said it’s “working on it.”
Kamel broke down why the 50-year mortgage is, in his words, “a financial illusion that’s going to keep people broke until they die.”
Math That Doesn’t Add Up
Using a $450,000 home as an example, Kamel showed how dangerous a longer mortgage term could be.
On a 30-year loan at 6.25%, the monthly payment would be around $2,700, with total interest paid at $547,000. A 50-year loan at the same rate would lower the monthly payment to about $2,450, but interest would exceed $1 million.
“Do you understand how insane that is?” he said.
And that’s assuming the interest rate stays the same. Kamel warned that lenders would likely charge more due to the increased risk of a 50-year loan.
No Real Equity
“You’re just renting from the bank instead of your landlord,” Kamel said.
With a 50-year loan, borrowers wouldn’t start paying more toward principal than interest until nearly 40 years in.
Given that most homeowners move within 11 years, Kamel argued that many would walk away with almost no equity built up.
Inflating Prices, Not Solving Affordability
Kamel compared the proposal to long-term car loans and student debt, arguing that easy credit only results in higher prices.
“Stretching debt doesn’t make homes more affordable,” he said. “It’s just going to make home prices go up.”
He pointed out that when buyers can pay more per month, sellers and builders raise prices accordingly.
High Risk, Few Benefits
Beyond the cost, Kamel said the legal and financial risks are massive. Banks would demand higher rates, investors would be hard to convince, and the whole structure would be fragile from the start.
“This is a financial time bomb,” he said.
He argued that the only real winners would be banks, builders and Wall Street, all of whom would benefit from decades of extra interest.
“The only loser in this setup is you, the homeowner,” Kamel said.
Even some Republicans pushed back. “It rewards the banks, mortgage lenders, and homebuilders while people pay far more in interest over time and die before they ever pay off their home,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) said in response to the proposal.
A Better Way
Kamel urged listeners to avoid being lured by longer terms and to follow the Ramsey method: a 15-year mortgage with at least 20% down and payments that don’t exceed 25% of take-home pay.
“You’re debt-free in 15 years,” he said.
And he made it clear that the responsibility falls on the individual, who ultimately shoulders the consequences of taking on such long-term financial risk.
“You don’t pay our bills, Mr. President,” he said. “It is a big deal to lock someone in a death pledge for the rest of their life.”
Kamel ended with a reminder: don’t wait on the government to solve the housing crisis.
“Bet on yourself instead of a housing market that’s a moving goalpost,” he said.
IMAGE CREDIT: “Donald Trump” by Gage Skidmore, via Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Image adjusted for layout.