If you are one of the NFL players whose career lasted long enough to qualify for NFL pension benefits you will need to decide when to begin drawing your pension. Although the NFL retirement plan defines normal retirement age as 55 years old, many players begin drawing their pensions early.
The standard industry recommendation for mortgage payments is that no more than 28 percent of your gross income should go to your monthly payments. To calculate this, simply multiply your annual, gross income by .28 and divide by 12.
Aim to keep your mortgage payment at or below 28 percent of your pretax monthly income. Aim to keep your total debt payments at or below 40 percent of your pretax monthly income. Note that 40 percent should be a maximum. We recommend an even better goal is to keep total debt to a third, or 33 percent.