<prompt> Human: So, I copy pasta a reply I put in another thread and made it its own thread because I wanted to toss out my thoughts and get input on paying down mortgages early from PF. Here are my thoughts of why paying down a 30 year note at current rates is not a great idea:While there is certainly a peace of mind aspect to doing this, there are a few caveats, IMHO. As things stand now with rates so low, I am of the school of thought that you should keep that mortgage payment as low and for as long as possible. You are borrowing in many cases hundreds of thousands of dollars for a very long period of time at currently VERY low interest rates. You can put any extra money you have available to work in many other avenues than paying down a mortgage. Have a credit card balance? Pay that off first. Youre earning the difference in interest youd have to pay between your CC interest rate - your mortgage interest rate also including tax write off and putting your money to work smarter. This goes for any loan with a higher interest rate over your mortgage rate. Not maxing out your retirement plan or, at least, putting enough in for the match? Your money should go here. Compound interest and general market returns over time 7 over 100 years or so are higher than youre paying in mortgage interest. Saving for kids college? Again, your mortgage rate is probably lower than youre gonna get for a student loan rate. Those are just a few, but I think theyre the big ones. So many people get target lock on how much interest theyre paying to the bank over 30 years even as opposed to a 15 year, but its IMHO a false reason to fear the longer term because it doesnt take into account the lost returns of not putting the extra money spent on a payment to work investing or paying down higher interest loans elsewhere. Anyway, any thoughts or input are appreciated. I hear this a lot and I am always curious if it is a common misconception, or if I am missing a bigger picture outside of the peace of mind aspect.Thanks for reading.  <response>: Most people who dont want to pay off their mortgage early use an argument that doesnt take this into account: that what you choose to do with that money instead matters, and a lot. As OP stated, if you are instead using that money to pay down higher interest debt or get a 401k match, it is clearly in your best interest to do that before paying down your mortgage. Less clear but also an advantage is if you are making more by investing than you are paying; but that is dependent also on taxes, fees, and the risk of the investment going down in the future, plus the value you place on your peace of mind. But, some people choose to not pay down their mortgage for theoretical reasons, while spending their extra money on other things. Theyre using logic to make the decision not to pay down their mortgage, but cheating themselves out of the benefits of that decision.When it comes down to it, whether you are paying down your mortgage or investing your money, if you do it with discipline and self-restraint, you are probably ahead of the game. 