mortgage the/one's future

idiom

chiefly US, disapproving

: to borrow a large amount of money that will have to be paid back in the future

The city has mortgaged its future to pay for the new stadium.

—sometimes used figuratively

Some critics say that she has mortgaged her political future on a program that is likely to fail.

Examples of mortgage the/one's future in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

David Stearns, in his first season as the Mets’ president of baseball operations, demonstrated a balanced approach before his first deadline with the organization, making measured moves that help now but don’t mortgage the future. —Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 30 July 2024

The winner was the Lakers because Pelinka would no longer mortgage the future to satisfy the whims of basketball’s ultimate win-now superstar. —Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 10 Feb. 2024

Rales said the ownership group will be careful not to make short-term decisions that mortgage the future. —Chris Bumbaca, USA TODAY, 7 Sep. 2023

The willingness to mortgage the future to acquire Stafford is intriguing, and in some ways surprising. —Mike Jones, USA TODAY, 31 Jan. 2021

Either blow it all up and rebuild, or mortgage the future to fix the lack of chemistry and skill on this basketball team. —Arkansas Online, 31 Oct. 2022

And coach Kyle Shanahan and GM John Lynch didn't mortgage the future to keep youngster Trey Lance, the No. 3 pick of the 2021 draft, on the bench for another year. —Nate Davis, USA TODAY, 31 Jan. 2022

But Bill is not going to mortgage the future and swap a raft of picks for Deshaun Watson. —Dan Shaughnessy, BostonGlobe.com, 16 Mar. 2021