[Walter_Middie]

So your 401K is shot, and now you are counting on your home value for retirement? Aren't realestate values still either going down, or expecting to go up really slowly for many many years? I am about to sell a house that I almost have paid off, and sink myself deep into a really nice house, in a nice neighborhood, in hopes that it will increase in value faster than the house I'm in now - once the economy improves. I'm 50, and don't plan on retiring for several years. I too look forward to paying the thing off, but where else can I put my investment money? I have people telling me that paying off the house is not the way to increase my net worth.