since we're talking about mortgages

[MineralMan]

2. Most people never pay off a mortgage.

Mortgages are low-interest money. Plus, historically, property values rise faster than inflation rates. So, in another sense, it makes no sense to pay off mortgages early, unless you know you're going to stay in that home at least until it is paid off. There are no loans available to anyone with interest rates as low as a mortgage.

I say that from a position of having no mortgage on my home. I paid it off on the day I closed on it, from the profits of the house I owned before, which I paid off from the house I owned before that. I keep my houses until it need to sell them for some other reason. This last time, I downsized, so the effect of rising home prices had an even greater effect.

For most people, a mortgage is essential to their investment in their home as a real estate investment. They cannot buy it outright at the beginning. What makes no sense is having credit card debt and paying down your home's mortgage by paying on the principal. You're far better off paying off a car loan in such a case or paying down credit card debt.

Homes are investments made with the expectation that the value of the home will increase faster than inflation. In most case, that is true, if you can wait long enough to sell.