<prompt> Human: Im going to be getting a raise at work in the next year or so, and would like some opinions about if I should use some of the raise to go towards my mortgage to pay it off early, or invest the money instead. It should be about 500mo that Ill be using for this and I figure thatll help me pay off the mortgage 11yrs early on a 30 yr mortgage, and save me about 85k in interest. I know there is a pretty substantial tax break for mortgage interest, so would I be better off maxing out my Roth IRA and investing that 500 instead? Or maybe a combination of the two?Any thought would be appreciated. Thanks!  <response>: I wouldnt consider paying extra on your mortgage until youre saving at least 15-20 of your income for retirement. Even then, Id finish filling your tax-advantaged accounts 5500 IRA, 18k 401k before Id pay down a mortgage at todays rates. 