Realistically mortgages are also forever - very, very few people actually outright own their homes. Because when you sell, which you might be forced to do due t

Realistically mortgages are also forever - very, very few people actually outright own their homes. Because when you sell, which you might be forced to do due to a new job, divorce, etc, you enter another mortgage. Also homes are a bad bad retirement plan. If you're debating paying off your mortgage early, or investing said money in a 401k, 401k is almost always the correct choice, in just about every market. Debt is not a bad thing. Often having more debt means having more cash flow, which means greater investments. That's why companies don't outright buy their real estate, either.