Should you pay off your house?

I often get asked if paying off a mortgage faster is a "good idea".  My answer is almost always the same.  It depends... If you are a younger worker and can find it in your budget to make extra payments every month/year then it probably makes some sense.  When I do retirement planning, the biggest expense I see is cost of housing.  If possible, taking a free and clear property into retirement almost always has the best outcomes.  Owning your primary residence outright also gives you a sort of "bank account" of equity to use anywhere.    If you are an older worker and just took advantage of today's low interest rates in a refinance, and have many years left on your mortgage, it might make sense to use that extra money in other places.  If it means sacrificing in retirement to pay off the mortgage faster, then it might not be worth it.  Perhaps it makes more sense to pay off other consumer debt, with higher interest rates, than your mortgage to free up extra cash in retirement.  Many advisors will argue against paying off a mortgage quickly with today's low interest rate environment.  Let me explain... When you accelerate your mortgage payments, you are essentially "investing" that excess with a rate of return that is the same as the interest rate on your mortgage.  For instance, if you have a 3.0% mortgage, you are getting a 3.0% return on excess payments.  Some advisors would argue to invest the excess and, hopefully, get much more than that 3.0% over the long haul.  There is an argument for that strategy as well.  However, I really like the idea of people living "rent free" in retirement.  Obviously the best case scenario is to do both...invest in your TSP AND accelerate the pay off of a mortgage.  Here is a simple mortgage payoff calculator that will help you see how long paying off a mortgage will take.  https://www.bankrate.com/calculators/mortgages/mortgage-loan-payoff-calculator.aspx Matt