Should I pay down mortgage or invest?

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Francisco Ramirez, President, Insuringmyself.com LLC

@FranciscoRamirez • 05/20/15 This answer was first published on 05/20/15. For the most current information about a financial product, you should always check and confirm accuracy with the offering financial institution. Editorial and user-generated content is not provided, reviewed or endorsed by any company.

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A key factor to consider is the interest rate on the mortgage. If it's under 4.25% (arbitrary number) then putting that money to work makes more sense. Do you have any other debts with higher rates?
According to wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%26P_500 - the 15 year annualized return for 2014 was 4.24%. However, the historical total annual return w/ dividends was 15.79%. I bring this up only to emphasize that you may need to be patient to see an investment outperform the effect of paying down your mortgage...but on average, investing that money is a better move. Of course, I'm assuming that by "investing" you had in mind to put those funds into the stock market.
And in case you are wondering - no, I'm not a financial advisor either but I am a registered Commodity Trading Advisor (in addition to being an insurance broker which is how I'm listed here).

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Craig Smalley, Tax Professional

@cwseapa • 05/19/15 This answer was first published on 05/19/15. For the most current information about a financial product, you should always check and confirm accuracy with the offering financial institution. Editorial and user-generated content is not provided, reviewed or endorsed by any company.

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My answer will probably differ from most people's answer on this site. I'm not a financial advisor, but I am an accountant. I would recommend taking a $60,000 and investing it. I would not pay down your mortgage. A few years ago, we went through a mortgage crisis, and the value of homes went way down. Who knows if that will happen again? The reason for not paying down your mortgage, did you don't want to tie up this money in a fixed asset, where you would have to jump through hoops to get it out in case it was an emergency. Cash is king. It is okay to have a little bit of debt.
Craig W. Smalley, E.A. -Admitted To Practice Before The Internal Revenue Service

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