<prompt> Human: Im about five years into a 30 year mortgage, three years into a daughter and one year into a son. A recent budget refresh led me to to revisit old choices. The fact that I took out a 30-year rather than 15-year mortgage five years ago was hugely important for reasons I didnt fully anticipate at the time.Ill get into it more, but the tl;dr is young couples should value flexibility as much as long-horizon economizing when making big-ticket commitments.Let it be said: the 15-year mortgage is arguably the better financial choice, if you are a money-bot. You may get a slightly lower interest rate. You obviously pay much less interest over the life of the loan. Im not here to argue with any of that, because it is all true.And yet.The monthly PI payment on a 15-year mortgage is 50-60 higher than that on a 30-year mortgage assuming an interest rate in the neighborhood of 4. For a 200k mortgage, thats a difference of about 500month. And for many people, that 15-year window coincides with peak childbearing years.In the last three years I have been on maternity leave twice, for a total of 22 unpaid weeks thanks, America!. My husband suffered an injury at work that left him on workmans comp for several months. Did you know that workmans comp only pays 23 of your wages? I do now!And dear god, daycare. I live in a relatively low COL part of the country, but Im still spending nearly 2kmonth so my children can go to the daycare with the big playground, good food, and nice teachers rather than the 1.2kmonth daycare where they watch tv and bite each other.But this is a happy story of budgeting gone right. Although our emergency fund is almost depleted, it got us through three work interruptions. I recently decreased my workload to a 30-hour week, because that is a choice that makes sense for our priorities right now. It would not have been possible, however, to weather the last three years and enjoy this worklife balance with quality daycare, had I signed that 15-year mortgage. Our budget works, but just barely. That 500month commitment would have forced me to either work more hours or sacrifice daycare quality. Its a choice Im very glad not to make.Before kids, I paid extra towards principle, such that my 30-year mortgage is now more like a 28-year mortgage. I intend to do the same once daycare is over and I can comfortably work more hours. Its an option, but its voluntary, and can be dialed up or down in concert with lifes other demands.As a late-20s DINK, I could have built a totally rational case for the 15-year mortgage. Mid-30s me is very glad I didnt.YMMV, obviously. However I see an awful lot of advice here that seems more enamoured with spreadsheet satisfaction than the vagarities of life. Some of yall may appreciate the lived counterpoint...UPDATEEDIT: Thanks for all the comments yall! I do want to emphasize this posts flair is BUDGETING and not INVESTING. There is a good argument that its a better investment to pay the minimum on a 30-year mortgage and invest the difference in index funds or other market investments, as compared to a 15 year mortgage. I changed Let it be said: the 15-year mortgage is almost always the better financial choice, if you are a money-bot to Let it be said: the 15-year mortgage is arguably the better financial choice, if you are a money-bot to soften that up.But this post isnt interested in the optimal investment for your marginal dollar. Its about not over-committing your budget to illiquid assets, regardless of how attractive they are on paper, because shit can happen and you may need the leeway.I get the impression this sub is read by many younger people who discount the possibility that personal circumstances can change rapidly in unexpected ways, and hoped my personal anecdotes could illustrate how that can play out.Yall are great and Ive really enjoyed the discussion!  <response>: Completely agree. This post needs to be upvoted several times.You do not have to wait to pay off the mortgage over 30 years. However, during the initial years, you need every bit of added flexibility you can get of a lower monthly payment.However, once you are out of the dog years and once your kids start going to school, there is no reason not to accelerate the payments and pay off the house. 