TH,
You have given qualitative reasons to make comparisons on this issue a number of times. You decide how you want to compare things and state them as if they are rules. You are simply stating your opinion and clearly (as the article shows) your opionion is not shared by everyone. Why does this bother you so much?
Let me be specific. You state that paying off is a 5% guaranteed return. But you are making no guarantees for your real return over the next 30 years. If inflation were to jump to 5% with a 5% real return averaged over the next 30 years, then your payoff would have been a 0% real return move or a loss of 5% real return over 30 years. Historically, that is qualitatively what would have happened to anyone choosing the payoff option. You can come up with a quantitative historical result using FIRECALC. You may prefer not to analyze your mortgage situation like this, but many people do. The article clearly proves that there people who view the situation differently than you.
You also claim that the payoff is a risk free investment. But again, as the above example shows, that is only true if you only consider one kind of risk. There are other risks to home ownership too. Certainly, each person needs to establish their own risk profile. And that can be more important to an indivdual's decision than the fact that historically they would benefit from keeping a mortgage. Again, in your case, you have decided that the only way to compare mortgage and investment is using fixed income investments at today's rates. That clearly means that you should pay off your mortgage. I believe that you already have. You made the right decision for you. But as the article clearly shows, not everyone shares your view of risk. People who feel comfortable with the minimal risk of keeping a mortgage have been able to do very well in recent years. You feel that they are taking terrible risks, but they don't.
Let me point out, TH, that I was not the author of this article that I posted. Clearly there are people who look at the mortgage payoff differently than you. So let me also point out that it is you that continues to take the inflexible position. Our continuing discussion on this issue runs like this:
SG: Mortgage payoff is not a black and white issue. Historically, keeping a low interest loan with a balanced investment portfolio can result in both an increased SWR and increased terminal value. The investment results are only one aspect of this decision, but it is probably worth it to look at the numbers before you follow blind, inflexible advice.
TH: No, you're wrong. I don't trust historical results and I think it's risky. The only decision anyone should ever make is to payoff your mortgage.
I'm only kidding. (See the little smiley.) Actually, although I had difficulty reading through your whole post, I appreciate that your final paragraph showed much balance.