<prompt> Human: Background:I am self-employed and own a my own company that primarily does consulting. It is very likely we will get a contract that will greatly increase my profits to the tune of another 150K or so per year, after taxes. So, Im trying to decide what to do with this hypothetical windfall as far as strategy.Overall Financial Picture Today:Age 38, married, 1 kid in private middle schoolDebts: 271K Mortgage on house 4 300month lease on a Nissan Leaf CCs paid in full each month One other car payment, but about to be paid off this month, so disregardInvestments: 45K in stock accounts 25K in IRAs 3K in Precious MetalsCurrent Income before windfall: 150K per year Saving about 5-7K per month, depending on the monthI have earned at this level for a long time - but only recently got my financial shit together, so thats why my savings sucks. Added income would give me about another 12K per month to saveOK, so with that background, here is the question - what would you do with this extra cash? Im thinking a few different scenarios:1 Pay off house ASAP. Basically take the extra per month and pay off my house in 18 - 24 months. Pros: Own house no debt at allCons: Loan is only 4 so poor ROI2 Invest it all, start with IRA, then Roth, then cash accountsPros: Lots of available capital Probably better ROICons: Stock market risk Still would have house debt3 Some kind of hybrid - where I split between house payoff and investingSo, knowing what I shared - what would you do?  <response>: Pay off the house first. As a self employed contract worker you never know when you might lose the contract or your business could go down. What if you get sick or something...? Consider the risks. You would be better to get the house paid off and then, in a few years, beef up the investments. Plus, stocks right now are pretty much fully valued and then some, so you would likely be getting in near a top, rather than at a bottom or close to fair valuations.In your situation and everybodys situation, there should be less regard for ROI and more concern for safety of capital. Dont be obsessed with thinking about how much you can make, worry about how much you can lose if things go bad. 