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If you happen to have enough cash or bonds to pay off the mortgage, doing so would create roughly $4,000 of tax-free equivalent income. By comparison, you may only make about $1,200 after

taxes with a CD or high-quality bond fund. Even better, paying off your mortgage helps your cash flow, since you won't be paying the bank principal payments either. Okay, so you may not

have $100,000 in cash and bonds to completely pay off the mortgage. But even if you have $10,000, that's roughly $400 a year of the equivalent tax-free income. Though your payments

won't likely change, that's about $400 a year of additional money going to pay off principal so that $400 is also paying yourself. You'll also end up getting rid of the

mortgage more quickly. You will hear many people tell you not to pay off your mortgage. They may say something like “A balanced portfolio of 60 percent stocks and 40 percent bonds can earn

more than what you'd gain by paying down your mortgage.” Though this may be true, it is more a case of comparing apples to oranges. Stocks are risky, as we've just been reminded.

And, by the way, so far this century bonds have earned more than global stocks. Also, I sometimes have people tell me they don't want to put more money into the house. While I agree

with this statement, it's irrelevant. I'm not suggesting a house remodel here. Paying down the mortgage has no impact on the price you ultimately sell your house for, or whether

you put in marble countertops. You're simply eliminated a debt and increased your cash flow. PAY THE BIGGEST DEBTS FIRST Of course, if you have more expensive debt, that should be paid

off first. Credit card interest rates have been averaging 17 percent, according to Wallet Hub. So even if you spend your $2,400 coronavirus stimulus checks paying down your debt, that's

a savings of $408 a year. Try to get that from a CD.