This is a good time to bring up an argument that has been absent recently.  I enjoy listening to personal finance talk shows from time to time.  Mostly it's folks who don't know how to make a budget or know how to make a budget but are unable to stick to it.  As a result, they're in a jam and call the host du jour to help bail them out.  From time to time, you get a caller who realizes a windfall of some sort.  Stock options, inheritance, bonus, etc.  Sometimes this is enough to pay off their home or at least put a big chunk against it.  However, caller X calls up the show with the bright idea to put the money in the market and keep debt.  Typically the responsible host will let them know how foolish this is.  While the caller explains the outsized return they will inevitably earn, the host explains the outsized risk they're assuming.  Naturally, it's tough to communicate this risk during days when the VIX is around 10.  Can we find anyone willing to do this with the VIX at current levels? Mysteriously, calls of this nature have dried up.

In real-time, I'd like to point out to those who may be considering this option.  I'm not of the mindset that it's a particularly bad idea to put some "found money" into the markets so long as you truly understand the risk.  Someone who decided to do this last summer probably has a spouse belittling them at this point.  But let me just say this from someone who understands the risk, if I were so fortunate as to run into some money that could put a substantial dent or pay off my mortgage, I'm paying off the mortgage.  Although at current levels, the thought of getting into the market with "found money" is much more attractive than it's been in quite some time for me.

For the long term, paying off the house may not be the most financially advantageous move one could make from a dollar perspective, but part of sleeping well at night is having a place to sleep.