re: Paying off a mortgage early vs Putting money into an IRA

Your effective RoI for paying off principle is likely around 3%. You are very likely to do better than that investing. It's difficult to measure the "good feeling" of having your house paid off vs having a few extra $100grand in the bank earning interest. Also from a risk standpoint, a home is a very difficult process for banks to take from you if you start missing payments. Also check out your state laws with regard to bankruptcy and liability claims if you want to get down to the details. Also as you get older and if you or your wife need to be made wards of the state, you may want to see what the state can take from you.