Check to ensure lender getting early payments

Q. My husband and I are both 39 with three children. We want topay off our 30-year mortgage ahead of time. Instead of setting up abiweekly mortgage plan, we are attempting to do it on our own bysending in an extra payment a year. We divided our payment by 12,and send in that much extra every month, thus making 13 payments ayear. Is this method OK or should we make one extra lump-sum paymenta year? Also, is this a good plan for our situation? We plan to bein this house a long time.

A. Your plan sounds sensible and suitable for your age andfamily situation, but it's important to check with your lender thatthe extra amounts are being properly credited toward principal. …