[speekinout]

You have to think about more than just the cost of the house. There are far too many seniors today who are "house poor". Most of their money is in equity in their homes, and reverse mortgages (the only way to get it out without moving) are far more expensive than the mortgage you can get while you're still working.
And if you intend to retire to a lower cost home or lower cost area, why would you ever want to pay off your current home? All you need is enough money for the next one.

I wish someone would tell me a good reason to pay off a house. I don't know one.
It seems to me that getting a mortgage with comfortable payments, and investing whatever you can in other things makes the most sense. If one part of the economy collapses (and housing can do it too) then you have some back-up.

[Skywalk]

Yep and your house, one hopes, will at least maintain its value if not increase dramatically. This increase in value happens whether you have paid the mortgage or not. So why spend the extra money when you derive no further increase in the value of the house?

[Dog Gone]

I wish someone would tell me a good reason to pay off a house. I don't know one.

Well, I guess you could reach an arrangement with a mortgage company to keep paying them forever, but the concept of not sending them a monthly check seems appealing to me.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I wish someone would tell me a good reason to pay off a house. I don't know one.

Because once it is paid off you can get by on a lot less monthly income. That means you could take a job that didn't pay as much, but that you really liked.