I have an opportunity to pay off my mortgage- $280,000 left on it.?

I understand exactly how you feel about wanting to have no debt. But in this case, I think the best financial move would be to invest the money.

If you pay off your mortgage, you can't get access to your equity without paying interest on a home equity loan. Your money is tied up until you sell your home. Remember, your mortgage interest is tax-deductible (assuming you itemize your deductions) and you might find even a very safe investment will give you more return than you would gain from paying off your mortgage and saving that interest cost.

And if you invest it, you still always have the option of using the money to pay off the mortgage if and when you want.

With the amount of money you are talking about, I'd suggest getting in touch with a fee-based financial planner. That means you will pay a few hundred dollars for someone to look at your entire financial picture in detail, ask you what your goals are, how much risk you are comfortable with, and work up a plan for you that also considers the tax implications of different options.

You can find people who will do that for free, but they will want to sell you the products they make a commission on. That's not automatically a bad thing, but a fee-based planner will be completely unbiased.

I should mention I am not a planner myself, but I know enough to recognize that to answer your question properly requires a lot more details regarding your specific situation than we know. For example, your retirement plans, current savings and investments, income level, tax situation, etc. The few hundred dollars a planner will charge will be well worth it.

It sounds like you have a great opportunity to build a solid financial foundation for the years ahead. Please get professional advice so you can make a fully informed decision. Best of luck to you!

Well I'm assuming that you've got a half decent APR on your mortgage. Generally if you invest money you'll make more on it than the interest you're paying in interest on a mortgage.

Of course the problem is that most investments will carry some kind of risk where you can lose some of your money.

It depends on how you feel. It's really nice knowing that your house is paid for an nobody is going to come along one day and throw you out. It's one less thing to worry about.

Of course the people that have lots of money are the risk takers who will buy a second house to lease out or play the stock market. It's all down on personal preference, sounds like you and your husband have different ideas.

Halfway house would be to invest some and high interest savers account for the rest. (That way they money in the savings account will be earning more interest that you're paying on the mortgage but you don't have to worry about losing it)

Pay it off. You do not need any debt when you are in your late 60s. Just look at your tax situation both ways. (1) If you continue in what you are doing such as paying a mortgage plus investing or (2) pay off the mortgage and start investing using the amount that you were using for the mortgage. I paid my mortgage off ten years ago and I am 53 right now.

I'm glad that I did. I can't itemize either.

As long as you are not raiding retirement accounts to pay off the mortgage, I would do that. Can I ask, why do you have that much money? A windfall? Or in savings? I am one for paying off debt.

The person who said do half and half probably had a good idea too!

If your mortgage is a traditional 30 year fixed rate with a good interest rate, I would use your windfall money to pay off your higher interest rate debts first, such as credit cards or car loans. If it is one of the "creative" adjustable rate mortgages with a time bomb ready to go off, or balloon payment about to explode in your face then by all means, pay off the mortgage now, or at least refinance at a fixed rate.

It depends on the interest rate on you mortgage, vs. the percent return you can get on any given investment. If the investment return is more than the interest, put it there. If your interest rate is high, then it would be better to pay that off sooner.

refinance mortgage by paying it down to a level and getting a 15 yr mortgage that will lower your monthly payments to a level you're comfortable with - will pay it off by retirement and let you invest for retirement - other - also pay off all car loans and credit cards

Invest half, pay half on the mortgage. It will lower payments and interest. You both win!

If you have a low fixed rate you are better off keeping that debt, that's GOOD debt. If you have a lump sum of money like that, take full advantage, get it invested and well diversified, safe and risky and everything in between.

Pay off the mortgage....the extra you are paying (interest) will be money saved for investments.