We paid off the last bill about 7 years ago. My retirement income isn't great but with no bills, its very livable.
A lot of younger people can't get it through their heads that an extra mortgage payment early in the term will multiply the saving at the end of it. If you make a $1000 extra payment on the principle, assuming 4% interest, each year you save $40 in interest. After 25 years, you've saved $1000 in interest so that 1 single early payment has cut your end-of-term debt by $2000. There are some good interactive amortization tables available online that will show you what happens if you can make that same payment every year. It's amazing how much money it will save you.
