Maybe I’m pessimistic, or contrarian, or a little bit of both. I just don’t see much better right now, right this moment, than paying down a 6% mortgage. If they have an ARM (the article didn’t say) I’d be paying that puppy down as fast as I can, because I don’t see interest rates going down. Because money has been so easy to get over the past few years, just about every investment sector is overpriced, or so it seems. Stocks are no exception in my book.

To defer to your reasoning, though, they do live in CA, so who knows how high their home price will go. Until they sell, though, the only way that they can use that appreciation is to take out a HELOC — with interest payments of their own. So if they’re not moving, what good does the appreciation do them? They still have to live somewhere. The extra payments toward the house will protect them from going upside-down on their mortgage in the event of a downturn.

If they’re planning to move, then sure, sock it away in a retirement account and enjoy a 7-digit gain when they sell it next year. Or whatever.

Still, a 5-6% guaranteed, tax-free compounded reduction in their debt is nothing to sneeze at. There are definitely worse places to put excess money.

The only way I see paying down a mortgage quicker than normal is if you have a high interest rate. Otherwise, it makes more sense to allocate your resources where they get the best return.

That’s my 26.4 cents worth!