We've been debating whether it's better to pay off the mortgage or to invest it in higher-return assets (whatever those are). Aside from smiting each other mightily with calculators & statistical theory, IMO to this point the debate has only been a reciprocal diatribe without persuasion. We still have our mortgages.
Linda Stern takes an asset-allocation approach. It doesn't have much to do with the previous debates about historical returns & calculators, so please restrict those comments to that thread. But take a look in this thread at how your own portfolio is affected by a mortgage.
Reuters Finance: Should You Prepay Your Mortgage?
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle....ECRBAEZSFEY?type=businessNews&storyID=5008611
According to the article, our own retirement portfolio has risen by our home value (again, "whatever that is") and our mortgage has pushed our asset allocation from 0% bonds to -25%. We haven't included our home equity in our retirement portfolio, and I'm still trying to decide if this is deworsification!
But asset allocation may only be a different approach to solving part of the mortgage problem. In the back half of the article, she gives a nod to the other concerns that we've already brought up.
Linda Stern takes an asset-allocation approach. It doesn't have much to do with the previous debates about historical returns & calculators, so please restrict those comments to that thread. But take a look in this thread at how your own portfolio is affected by a mortgage.
Reuters Finance: Should You Prepay Your Mortgage?
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle....ECRBAEZSFEY?type=businessNews&storyID=5008611
According to the article, our own retirement portfolio has risen by our home value (again, "whatever that is") and our mortgage has pushed our asset allocation from 0% bonds to -25%. We haven't included our home equity in our retirement portfolio, and I'm still trying to decide if this is deworsification!
But asset allocation may only be a different approach to solving part of the mortgage problem. In the back half of the article, she gives a nod to the other concerns that we've already brought up.