While I find your desire to become debt-free as soon as possible laudable, I’m one of those “others” you mention. However, if you read this:
I think you’ll understand the fallacies inherent in your opinion. Just one critical one is that if you can invest the extra $100 each month at 6% return instead of paying down a loan that’s at 4%, where you might also be getting help from Uncle Sam in the form of a mortgage interest deduction, you’ll come out further ahead with the investing option than by prepaying your mortgage principal.
More importantly, if you go the investment route, you’ll have some extra “steaks” that aren’t attached to your arms and legs with which to feed a hungry lion until you can get out of the cage. If you lose your job without investing because you were busy paying down your mortgage a couple of years early, but you still owe several years’ worth of payments, you’ll lose your house.
Call me crazy, but if I can reduce my risk while making more money, I’d go for that every day of the week.
