Not all advice is good advice.  The Traditional Advice: “Pay Down Your Mortgage As Fast As Possible" isn't' always the best advice.   We delve into some eye opening tips and tricks of why you shouldn't pay down your mortgage faster.  Let's dive in.

  “Pay down your mortgage as fast as you can — you’ll save a ton on interest!”  It’s advice nearly every homeowner has heard. And on the surface, it sounds like the smart move. After all, who doesn’t want to be mortgage-free and save tens of thousands in interest payments?

But what if the numbers tell a different story?

​Let’s take a closer look.

Imagine this fairly typical scenario:

If you choose an accelerated biweekly payment (which means you effectively make one extra monthly payment per year), you’d pay $102.14 extra every two weeks.

​By doing this, you would:

That sounds like a great plan, what are we even discussing here, let's do it!  But wait...

Now, let’s flip the script, and do something that only the 1% do. 

What if, instead of putting that $102 toward your mortgage, you invested it every two weeks?

Let’s say you invested in an asset like gold, or the S&P 500, or a REIT, which have all averaged a 10% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the last 25 years.

​At that rate, your consistent biweekly contributions of $102 would grow to about $296,561.89 after 25 years.

Paying off your mortgage faster saves you $40,674, BUT, Investing that same amount earns $296,561.89 over the same time period.

That’s a difference of over $250,000.

Even with market fluctuations, fees, and taxes, the gap is massive.  And here’s the kicker — you’d still own your home, but you’d also have a growing investment portfolio on top of it.

The “pay down your mortgage” mentality comes from an older generation of financial thinking — one that prioritizes being debt-free over building assets.  But in today’s environment, not all debt is bad debt.

A mortgage is one of the lowest-cost, most tax-efficient forms of leverage you’ll ever access.
Smart investors understand this and use it strategically — letting their equity grow through investment, not just by making extra payments.

​This is the difference between being debt-free and being financially free.

Of course, everyone’s situation is different.  If you’re risk-averse or nearing retirement, accelerated payments might give you peace of mind.
But if you’re focused on long-term growth and financial independence, using your extra cash flow to invest could be the smarter move.

​Ask yourself:

Before you rush to pay off your mortgage early, take a step back and run the numbers.  Sometimes, the “safe” path can cost you hundreds of thousands in missed opportunities.  Being mortgage-free feels great — but financial freedom feels even better.

If you want to learn how to leverage your home equity, invest intelligently, or expand your real estate portfolio across Canada, I can help you map it out.  All you have to do is reach out by clicking the button below: