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her intestest rate is 6.5%, do you still think its better to pay monthly and invest, or to pay it off as a whole.
the stock market has returned 10% annually (on average) since the 30's. by paying off the entire 50k, you restrcit yourself from investing that 50k (oppurtunity cost) while it doesnt probably matter to you right now, it should. one of the best ways to build wealth is to have your money working for you, and not the other way around.
honestly, a mortgage is one of the best things to have. the old school thinking that mortgages needed to be paid off come from the long dark days ago when a bank could call in the note on your house at will. fortunatly there are laws that protect against this now (making a mortgage a risk free loan).
there are other advanteges, but since that wasnt your original question, ill leave it to you to look into it further.
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if you ever look at at how a mortgage is paid off (you can use the mortgage calculator at
bankrate.com) you know that on the back end of the loan you're primarily paying the principal w/ little interest. the bank front loads all the interest in the early years. so that 6.5% interest rate was really paid for in the early years.