While on my trainer I watch "Deal or No Deal?" and the countless numbers of contestants who get greedy and turn down $100K+ offers from the banker. They get carried away in the heat of the moment. I'm not sure some of them understand just how life changing that sum of money can be. My dream in my lifetime is to pay off my mortgage. It isn't unattainable since it's the only debt I carry. However, my principal payments are not even $200 monthly. I would have to raise a large sum of cash to pay off the loan at once. If you do not have a mortgage payment, you have effectivly given yourself a huge raise.
That is the life changing element of winning $100K on a stupid game show. So you're not going to have enough to buy yourself a mansion and a Porsche - take the offer anyway!

If I could pay off my mortgage RIGHT NOW, the next step for me would not be to buy a fancy car or a bigger house. It would just allow me to save massive quantities of income annually and retire in about ten years. By the time I'm 43. Retired. At 43.

Donations anyone? ;)

So why don't I shift my retirement contributions to paying off my mortgage? Because on a small incremental basis with no end in sight, one will receive a better return on investment by putting the money in the stock market instead of home equity. While home prices in recent years have risen quite a bit, this is more of an exception to the rule. Thus, it's better to save for retirement (at my age) unless you are getting close to paying off the entire loan.

The American way is to go through life in debt. Most of us have debt, so we think nothing of it. Then we feel tied to our jobs or careers in order to pay for the things that we want. Not to mention, the middle class is heavily taxed. How am I going to achieve complete financial freedom? By living well within my means, I am still not anywhere close to it. I blame the U.S. government for unfair taxation, but we also must blame ourselves for wanting to buy everything in sight. I'm not discouraging anyone, though. The American way buoys stock performance, which will help me retire sooner. So, go out and buy some things for yourself! Ha ha.