Several refis later to keep the house in shape and college expenses, our interest rate is 5.25%, and the monthly payment isn't much larger than w/the original loan.And depending on your financial situation probably easier to make.
"And depending on your financial situation probably easier to make."
You are absolutely correct.
In the early 90's, we had both kids out of college, I was at the peak of my earning power, my wife had a good salary, and we cleared out all debts with the exception of the mortgage and maxed out on 401k's and Iras. Our mortgage payment was easy to make then.
I took early retirement in 96, and after the first year I worked as a consultant for a few years. When I turned 62, our accountant suggested that I go on SS and fully retire to spend time on maximizing our Iras and 401k. Her rational was simple, "If I increased our deferred savings an extra $25 k each versus the 45% net I got as an independent consultant, we would be in a lower tax bracket and had more income earning investment in our deferred savings. As usual, that was excellent advice on her part.
A couple of years ago my wife watched a Suze Orman (sp) show where she advised her audience to pay off their mortgages. Last year, I asked our accountant about this, and she said that we would have to tap our deferred accounts very hard to do that, and besides killing us tax wise that year and in the future. We would not be able to use that withdrawn money to earn money in the future. Her advice was to get another rifi, to really fix up our home. It was good advise.