The recent (and past) comments about how "freeing" it is to be debt free are very fascinating to me, I guess that is why I keep coming back to this.
I mean, I understand that different things appeal to different people. One person's idea of the perfect vacation is to sit on the beach and get caught up in a book, but that might be hell on earth for the adventure seeker. Different strokes and all.
But when it comes to financial decisions, I just don't get that there is anything else to consider other than the likely financial outcome. I understand that people have different risk tolerance levels, but the FIRECALC runs I have done show that holding the debt provides (slightly) *less* risk, (slightly) *less* volatility, and (slightly) *higher* success rates.
So do you see why I am confused that people describe a path that may entail (slightly) *more* risk as "freeing"? It is cognitive dissonance for me.
Maybe one more parallel story to illustrate:
I've known people who would rev up their car real good just before shutting it off. It made them "feel good" - they thought they were "burning off carbon", or "getting oil everywhere for the next start". But most car guys know that this is *not* recommended, it is likely to increase wear on the engine, and most car manuals recommend against it (esp if turbo).
So, do you suggest to them that maybe this isn't as helpful as they think, and may actually be harmful? They should appreciate the helpful advice. Or, do you decide that you don't want to disturb their "feel good" mood, and just keep quiet when their turbo freezes up?
Now, if you have mentioned it and they just insist on doing it, sure, let them be, it is their decision, it may not hurt their car anyway. But, if every time you see them at a get together, they are telling other people how good it makes them feel to rev up the engine before shutting it down, isn't it reasonable to inform those people that they may want to read their manual, and check for themselves?
Sorry for the long post, just trying to cover as many bases as I can. As I say, this is fascinating to me.
-ERD50