Fair enough, how about this: a casual runner train for a marathon for a year that include couple long run of 26 miles. The cardio/health benefit of training is already harvested. The race itself has little added benefit compare with the year of hard work. But he sure is deserved a celebration.
OK, I'll play.
For this viewpoint, I think it all depends on your goal. If your goal is cardio/health benefit, then you achieved it through training, and the actual race is really of no consequence, and would not warrant any celebration. You already 'won'. Celebrate the real 'win'.
So for the race to be a celebration, it must, in some way, actually be a goal in and of itself (even if they are not aware of it).
So take this back to a mortgage pay-off. The way I see it, and as I said before, having the ability to do the pay-off is what is key - analogous to the cardio/health benefit in your example.
And for the pay-off to be a celebration, it must, in some way, actually be a goal in and of itself.
So now, I think you could be asking yourself - why is the pay-off itself a 'goal'? What is to be gained by it, versus the alternatives? By saving and having the ability to pay it, you proved yourself, now make the best decision going forward - pay it off, or not?
And like I said, I'm not saying either is a clear advantage. Pay it off, don't pay it off, I see it pretty much as six of one, half a dozen of the other. Though I do feel that the historically low rates available make keeping a mortgage attractive, I don't feel that strongly about it to suggest that it is the 'right' thing to do, or a mistake not to keep it. But I don't understand celebrating it either.
Ahhh, this takes me back to previous discussions on this now. So look at it this way (in light of what I just said) - to pay it off or not is a binary decision, you do it or you don't do it, right? So therefore (using pure logic), if a pay-off is to be celebrated, then not paying it off must be some reason to feel pitifully sorry for those poor, suffering souls with the heavy burden of an awful mortgage, who must not be smart enough to pay it off, even if they have the funds to do it. See, by celebrating it, you are sort of (unintentionally I'm sure), ridiculing anyone who holds a mortgage with the funds to pay it off. That follows, doesn't it?
The thing is, this mortgage pay-off is so often held up as some sort of silver bullet to achieving FIRE, when it is practically irrelevant, and may even be detrimental. I just wish people would focus on more important things.
-ERD50 (are we having fun?)
this week. AAPL may jump after April share buy back announcement. But right now, I'm without any debt for the first time 
. Yeah, this is how I feel.
