I'd be interested if you could give us some specific numbers on this.
I did the calculations about 8 years ago now. I don't have them readily available. You are correct that I only came out slightly ahead and there would have been many options with respect to refinancing.
I didn't pay off the mortgage with the intent of having a greater ROI vs investing. I was mostly wanting the intangible feeling of having it paid off.
Thanks, I just wanted to make sure my calculations weren't too far off. That previous "clap-clap" responder must have thought this was some kind of gold mine strike.
I fully respect that if someone really doesn't want to take that small long term risk that a portfolio may under-perform a pay-off, then a pay-off is what they should do. But I guess I just don't get the weight of this
"intangible feeling of having it paid off". Unless you had a very large mortgage relative to total net worth (which is maybe an indication of another problem, and in that case, a pay-off could lead to liquidity problems), I just fail to see why it would bring such a feeling of relief. As I see it, it just kind of deserves a
"meh - it's what I decided to do, six of one, half-dozen of another."
Maybe instead of "intangible", we should say "Irrational"? And I don't mean that in a critical way, I'm just really trying to analyze the situation - in literal terms, I see no rational reasons for feeling (as some have said) having a weight lifted off their shoulders, or similar metaphor. Similar to a fear of flying - it is irrational in some ways, as it is safer than driving, but if flying scares you to the point of ruining the trip, maybe driving is the right choice for that person. But we can still say it (the fear of flying vs driving) is irrational.
-ERD50