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.
For example, if you are currently paying 12 percent of your gross income for debt service, you could pay 24 percent of your gross income for a mortgage to make your 36 percent total debt figure. You will pay more for your house the first year, because you'll have closing costs that won't occur in other years.f you have credit card debt, a car payment, student loan or other debt, add that amount to your monthly mortgage payment to see if you can afford to spend 28 percent of your gross income on a mortgage.