Investing 102

[ErikLS2]

This can get complicate real quick and Greg makes some good points. Another thing you have to consider is what your return is on the principal part of your payment as this money is essentially a re-investment in the house, kind of like a company buying back it's own stock. If the house was bought right, meaning probably relatively recently, then there's a chance it might see some decent appreciation in the next few years in which case the higher principal payment of a 15 year note might pay off. But, like Greg said, you can accomplish this by adding to your payment each month too if you have a 30 yr. In the end though I think it's good advice to not look at your house as an investment and looking back a few years from now any loan you get these days at these rates will be a killer deal.

The only thing we know for sure is what we don't know. We don't know what's going to be tax deductible in coming years. We don't know what the value of houses or stocks are going to be in the future. We don't know anything at all about the future for sure really or if there will even be one.

What we do know is this is one helluva good discussion.