<prompt> Human: Im looking for advice, opinions...especially of those who have done this or wanted to.My family has been in the unique position of having location based pay in a very expensive area, where we purchased a house 450k on a 15 year mortgage, location based pay completely covers mortgageHOAutilities. When we move next year, well have more liquid assets than we ever have had before since well own almost 50 of the house.We already have 1 year of expenses of emergency fund and fully fund both spouses IRAs each year as well as a collegewhatever mutual fund for our child. We will be moving to a much lower cost area next year. Our location based pay will obviously decrease. I want to purchase a house in cash with the principal we will cash out of the current house. My husband is torn, doesnt know if investing the 200k and getting another 15 year mortgage is a better idea. I know a lot of people think investing will net more than the 4.25 edit: 3 according to the replies - thanks! of mortgage interest costs, but of course its not guaranteed.What would your thought process be while trying to make this decision?  <response>: This is going to go against the grain of what rpersonalfinance says but here it is: Pay for the house with cash. If there is a downturn in the economy or you run into some sort of financial problem, you wont have to worry about being foreclosed on and youre less likely to have to dip into your investments to cover expenses since your monthly bills will be lower. Since you wont be paying rent you can invest more monthly into your retirement. Also, putting a huge amount of cash like that into an investment sets your investment at that current rate, rather than dollar cost averaging by putting in smaller amounts monthly. 