re: When to pay off the mortgage

IMO, it's all a cash flow preference. As many have, and will, pointed out, a low interest rate note is a great hedge against inflation and the market routinely will beat the 3-5% most people have. However, with that said, there is a point in time that it makes sense from a cash flow perspective.

Want to lower monthly expenditures for retirement, want to go to a single income household without downsizing, hedge against huge swings in income.

For me, I am pacing mine to be paid off 3 years before I plan to retire. At that time, I want to upgrade any major item that hasn't been upgraded in the past few years (a/c, compressor, generator, appliances, roof...) so I have some piece of mind about a major hit once my regular income stops.