Bi-weekly mortage or monthly?

Everyone that pays mortgage payments has surely gotten dozens of solicitations offering a bi-weekly payment plan for their mortgage. This in theory cuts your monthly payments in half and allows you to pay every two weeks instead of once a month, and in turn pays off your mortgage earlier. However, be careful to check all fees and charges at your bank, you could be paying extra fees for this service. The reason this pays the mortgage off sooner is because there are 52 weeks in a year. Therefore, you are making 26 half payments totaling 13 monthly payments instead of the monthly payment plan of 12 payments. To receive the same benefits of this plan without the charges, fees, etc., simply make one extra payment a year by adding a little extra to your payment each month or the total once a year and marking it “payment to principal” on your mortgage coupon. This could pay your mortgage off 6 to 8 years ahead of schedule.