It's been all over the news that mortgage rates are dropping, and I've finally been motivated to check them out.

We're about 4 years into a 30 year fixed mortgage at 5.5%, but if I can go lower, I wouldn't mind at all.

Unfortunately, the decision is becoming much more complicated that I ever intended it to be.

We don't really want to go back to a 30 year term, so we've been looking at 15 year fixed mortgages. They seem to have the lowest rates. I've seen plenty of 20 and 25 year mortgages, but the rates on those have been mediocre at best.

The trouble I'm finding lies in the closing costs. The best closing costs I've been able to find at a competitive mortgage rate is about $3000, plus points if desired.

Will we keep this house and this mortgage long enough to justify the closing costs? I don't know.

DH and I were discussing it last night, and it just seemed to get more and more complicated. All the sudden we were trying to figure out if we were going to have kids, if we want to stay in Chicago, and how long my mother will be with us (she's fighting advanced breast cancer).

It all seems to hinge on these questions. If we have kids, we'll most likely stay put and keep this house. It's of a nice size in a nice neighborhood with good schools. If we don't have kids, we'll very likely move, but probably not before my mom passes or needs to go into an LTC facility. And once we do lose her, are we even going to stay in Chicago? There's a lot to like here, but it's hard to think of what in the middle of January!!! We've talked about pulling up stakes and moving somewhere completely different.

The first time we did a refi, all we cared about was the interest rate and costs. Now it almost feels like we have to map our entire lives out and make huge decisions before we can more forward.

When did it get this complicated?