> Imagine yourself 30 years from now with a house you fully own, with no more payments to make. Now imagine your alternate renting self who, instead of steadily

> Imagine yourself 30 years from now with a house you fully own, with no more payments to make. Now imagine your alternate renting self who, instead of steadily paying down the principal on the mortgage, has built up hundreds of thousands of dollars in equity in some other investment. You still have rent to pay each month but that's also about how much you're collecting in interest on your investments. So the renter now lives for free just like the home-buyer. Actually, the renter is better off from a purely financial point of view. Even if the house is owned free and clear, property taxes and maintenance will still need to be paid. The renter's rent covers all that.