re: paying down principal on home

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People always say "free money" when talking about how low interest rates are. I just don't see it that way. I look at the amount of interest on the loan and see that as savings if I pay off early. People talk about the mortgage interest deduction- ok so lets pay 5K in interest so I can get $1250 back! How is that a good strategy?? Another claim is that you can invest the money somewhere else and make a better return. That may be true, but who really does that? I have a Roth IRA that I contribute the max to every year, and also an HSA that I max out. Where else am I going to put my money and make such a great return? I'm not one to play the stock market, and I doubt many average joe's are, so I would rather save the monthly house payments and just keep increasing savings. For those who say invest it in stocks or mutual funds, more than likely a large % of the money you keep will be blown on needless items, not invested. And let's say I have 50K cash and can pay my mortgage off- that's a no brainer to me, I'm not going to dump 50K in a volatile stock market. I know there may be people that don't see it the same way, but I just can never get over the fact of why would you pay any interest if you don't have to. I don't care how low the rate is. On a $200K mortgage @ 3.5%, you would pay over $120K in interest over 30 years. "But you can get $30k back on taxes!" I would rather keep from paying the interest and have no monthly note.

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You should absolutely pay your house off. I have made a few moves, yes some risky but mostly mod to low risk that I expect historically proven gains based on past performance.

A volatile stock market as opposed to the safe and secure housing market?

Never regretted paying off our mortgage early. Paid 15 year loan in 1/2 the term.

When kid went to college, our cash flow covered expenses. Markets fluctuate and if you needed money for expenses during the 08-09 downturn, you would have had to liquidate at a disadvantage if you stayed long in stocks.

Interest rates are low, but the house you live in is not an investment;it's your family's shelter. I want my shelter from the storm to be debt free.

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Exactly, my parents home was $485k in 1998 when they bought it, today its maybe $900k bc its in a great neighborhood, how the hell is a home a good investment? They pay nearly 20K/yr in property taxes which means they've shelled out probably $250k in property tax since they've owned it

So....15 years

$485k purchase price
+250k in property taxes


$900k value today 15 years later
- subtract realtor fees

total value today in sale after fees is $850k

I feel like with the value of money 15 years later $485k to turn into $850k that they've barely made anything and that doesnt even count property taxes they've paid

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you need to figure in what they would have paid in rent during those 15 years to get more accurate numbers