<prompt> Human: I recently spoke with an adviser and want to get some other opinions...Basically they follow the circle of wealth, the circle of wealth philosophy is to avoid unnecessary wealth transfers credit card interest, lost opportunity cost, taxes, and to be in control of your money. The adviser I spoke with recommended that I only put into my 401K what my employer will match a measly 3 and put any other savings that I can into another account roth or something else so that I have more control of my money if I need it, and it will give higher returns.The other thing they said is to keep paying the minimum on my mortgage and NEVER pay extra towards the principle. Instead always put any extra money into the side savings account roth or something else. Again so that I have access to it, rather than it being put into my house.As I understand it, the goal of this philosophy is to have an account that is easily accessible and that will continue to earn more money than the interest that you are paying on your house. In the event that I loose my job or die my wife could use the money in the side account to pay off the mortgage.I guess my question is: Is this sound advice? Anything im missing? I am 26, have no debt outside my mortgage, and am wondering what the best thing to do with extra savings money so that I can set the ground work for my retirement.  <response>: Im not familiar with the term circle of wealth but the ideas are sound. Unless your 401k offers great funds e.g. Vanguard Admiral shares, you can generally earn better returns in an IRA as well as have more flexibility. That being said, unless the funds are really terrible, dont shy away from putting more in your 401k if you max out your IRA contributions.With regard to the mortgage, you can think of additional mortgage principal payments as earning a guaranteed rate of return equal to the interest rate slightly less if you itemize your taxes of the loan. You need to weigh this benefit against your other investment options as well as consider some of the intangible opportunity costs in paying early for example, fewer liquid assets in case of job loss. Your mortgage interest rate is probably under 4.5 if not, you should refinance and the average stock market return is much higher, so youre probably better off saving for retirement than paying the loan off early, especially if you can do so in a tax-advantaged account. 