Gary, I didn’t say it was stupid to pay off low interest debt, nor did I say that money should be invested waiting for CD rates to rise.
The response you predicted isn’t the response at all.
You are mixing apples and oranges. Thinking that being debt free doesn’t have a cost is silly.
The only way that anybody pays off debt is by giving up cash in exchange. You pay interest on what you haven’t paid OR you collect interest on what you have.
When you are in a position that you can collect more on what you have than on what you are paying,
it’s a beautiful thing.
I think it is foolish to simply say that being debt free is liberating.
If I can borrow money at less than I can lend it out for without any risk, I want to be in debt forever.
Having a “greatly reduced cost of living” doesn’t mean you have to be debt free.
I’ve met people who have no mortgage and have little cash and worry every day. They gave up their cash to pay the mortgage so they would be debt free.
AN makes the point as well. It’s not a matter of right or wrong, it’s a matter of understanding what you are doing and more importantly why you are doing it… HLS
