Early next year my husband Gerry and I will reach two milestones in our finances: Our mortgage’s outstanding balance will drop below $100,000 and, more significantly, more of our monthly payment will go toward principal than interest. With the passing of both of these milestones, Gerry and I will be that much closer to paying off our 20-year fixed-rate mortgage, a process we’re hastening by making additional principal payments of $195 a month. (Why the odd figure? I’ll get to that later; the short story is that it is part of $395 a month in spare cash we debated over where to invest. )

Some people believe paying off a mortgage is a stupid move, and would advise us to forgo the mortgage prepayments and invest that $395 a month elsewhere. This school of thought holds that the wisest financial move you can make is to get mortgages with the lowest monthly payments possible — refinancing as rates decline — and never pay off the loans, a strategy that improves your cash-flow and lets you benefit from potential home-price appreciation.

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