Refinancing personal home - 15/20/30 year?

[Roberto Ramirez]

Looking to refinance my personal home before starting to invest. Currently owe $585k and six years into a 30 year mortgage @5.25%. Rates have obviously come down. What makes the best financial sense? Taking out a 15 year even on a lower rate would increase my monthly payments which doesn't make me comfortable even if it would get paid off much earlier and paying less in interest. Another 30 year mortgage would significantly reduce my monthly payment but would restart the clock 6 years into my mortgage and would eventually pay more in interest but does that really matter if i don't plan on staying in the house past another 12-15 years? Do I take the savings and plow it right back into paying the principal? Or is a 20 year mortgage an option? Perhaps net monthly payment is the same but i reduce say 4-5 years of my mortgage. Appreciate everyone's thoughts. Thanks.

[Russell Gronsky]

I've always wondered why people take 15-year loans. Why not take 30-year loans and make extra payments? I think that would be advantageous because if you fall on hard times, you can always scale back to the standard monthly mortgage payment. With a 15-year note, you're paying the higher monthly payment, no matter what the economic conditions are at the time.

Thoughts?