<prompt> Human: The average mortgage rate right now is about 3.6. The average 30-year return on the SP500 adjusted for inflation is about 7 It seems to me that if you pay an extra dollar towards paying down your house faster, instead of just investing that dollar, youre throwing away money.Why cant I think of a mortgage as a huge, low-interest loan, that frees up more money for investing?If you had a mortgage at 3.6, and the ability to pay it all off outright in one single payment, should you do it?  <response>: After retirement investing, I personally am targeting my mortgage. While the math would suggest that you invest rather than paying down the mortgage, it takes risk out of the equation. For example, if you lose your job and you dont have a mortgage payment, you are in a less stressful position fun fact: 100 of foreclosed homes had a mortgage. The way that you can emotionally feel the risk is to ask yourself: if I had a paid for house, would I take out a mortgage on it so that I could invest that money? Personally, i have never met a person that regrets paying off their mortgage. 