[RKBA Democrat]

In my opinion, Consumer Reports is mostly wrong on this. One thing that I'm surprised that Brian Preston didn't mention in his review was market risk and volatility. Stocks are riskier than investments in say bonds or CD's (which are more similar to mortgages as financial instruments). Over time the market generally compensates for risk, so of course you're going to earn a higher rate of return on stocks over an extended time horizon. If you were to take that $100 per month and put it into an investment that had a more comparable level of risk and volatility such as a a CD, the interest earned on that CD would likely be much less than you would pay in mortgage interest.

I take a philosophical approach closer to that of Dave Ramsey when it comes to debt. It's less stressful to be debt free.

Mr. Preston's weekly podcast is pretty good, and you can get it on i-tunes for free.

[freespirited]

While we are on this subject I would like to bring up a related question. How would the FAIR Tax affect the value of real estate? It would eliminate the mortgage deduction ... would that affect what people are willing to pay for your home, especially if you live in a high tax state like CA or NY?

[Old Professer]

Chocolate; put it all in chocolate.

[knuthom]

How close you are to retirement

We are pre-paying our mortgage. We have it timed so that it will be paid in full by retirement.

[Alberta's Child]

Interesting article.

I like Dave Ramsey, but my one negative (sort of) observation about him is that his financial advice is really aimed at people in financial distress and/or people who do not have the self-discipline needed to make rational decisions regarding their money.

A mortgage should be viewed as a financial tool -- nothing more, nothing less. I wouldn't even necessarily call it "debt" in the true sense of that word, as long as it is taken on and paid off in a prudent manner.

There are several aspects of a mortgage that make it a very attractive financial instrument for many Americans -- in addition to the leverage it gives them to buy and own a home they otherwise wouldn't be able to afford. For one thing, most mortgage interest is tax-deductible, which means the borrower pays off the loan at a lower effective rate than the actual interest rate. Secondly, a fixed-rate mortgage really only carries a fixed rate for as long as the consumer wants to carry it (in other words, the consumer has the right to pay it off and/or refinance it at a lower rate whenever he wants, but the bank does not have this flexibility).

My advice is to live well within your means, don't take on a larger mortgage than you can REALLY afford (under your terms, not according to what the bank thinks you can afford -- which is usually more than you can afford), and take advantage of whatever provisions the tax code offers to you.