[fintstone]

Personally, I separate my debt between investment debt and personal debt. I have multiple rental homes. Some are paid off and some are not but have significant equity. I could sell some and pay off others to eliminate debt/payments, but that would also reduce potential growth and tax advantages...so I have chosen not to do so, even though it would increase my cash flow. Having some leverage is a big investment advantage. Currently, all proceeds are channeled back into paying off the mortgages, but it will take at least 10 more years to pay all off.

As far as personal debt, I have a large mortgage on a home I purchased only a couple of years ago. I have enough in retirement accounts that I can access without penalty (other than income tax) and could easily pay it off, but with the low interest rates and tax advantage...it does not make financial sense (although I often think about doing so). I have a defined pension plan where I will not really need extra cash flow to live my relatively frugal lifestyle. There

So, I could be debt free if I chose to do so...but choose not to. I have not borrowed for cars or anything else for about 15 years. That does seem to be unwise in most cases.