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If you had enough money right now to pay off your mortgage, would you? Most Americans would, since that has always been the American Dream. The reality is that following the "old" dream can be detrimental to your financial health. In fact, millions now love their mortgage because it is working for them.

Let's start with the reasons why the goal may be to pay off the mortgage. Many financial advisors/planners and other "experts" advise paying off the mortgage to reduce risk. ThePersonalFinance.com even runs articles advocating this "risk" management, and will lead you to believe that paying off your mortgage and doing so as fast as possible would be the best thing for you.

Advice is what you need, especially since no two families are the same and, thus, there is no single solution that meets everyone's needs. While paying off your mortgage may be good for you, there may be a better way. It may even be riskier for you to pay off your mortgage than to keep it.

So what risks are there in not paying off your mortgage? The "experts" say that the risks involve job loss, income reduction, interest hikes, market crashes, and banks pulling back their lines. They argue that all of these can and have happened before. If you feel these are valid risks, stop reading and pay off your mortgage. If you wonder how valid they really are, please continue reading.

Advice was suggested earlier and now will be emphasized. You not only need the advice though. You also need a plan and be disciplined to implement it. The risks will be compared against and the findings are astonishing. The disciplined homeowner will almost always have less risk by maintaining their mortgage!

Here's why. When you base everything on equal payments per month, getting an interest-only loan almost always results in better rates of return. After a few short years the disciplined homeowner will have enough money to survive any downturns in the economy, job loss, or other crisis, including natural disasters. This can be accomplished easily in safe investments that do not "crash" and most programs can minimize interest rate risks as well. But keep in mind that historically when interest rates went up, rates of returns on investments went up also, so the risks were already small.

As you can already see, risks can be averted fairly quickly by using a mortgage planning strategy. Since all things are not equal, you have to have your unique situation analyzed carefully and learn your options. This will provide the least risk of all, due to having enough cash to survive a crisis or disaster, maximizing tax deductions, and increasing your rates of return. Don't fall prey to the "one size fits all" companies out there or those that cater to the masses like you see advertised heavily on TV and the web.

The bottom line is that millions of Americans have fallen in love with their mortgage and the fact that their money is working hard for them. The monthly payments are not a burden to them, and the freedom created by being more liquid (having enough cash available quickly) is relieving stress in their lives. It's even making them want to put more of their home equity to work for them, instead of being trapped in their homes.

About the author: Robert D. Ashby is President of Solid Rock Mortgage, a licensed Mortgage Brokerage Business in the state of Florida. He has been in the financial services business since 1997 and obtained his Series 6 and 63 Securities Licenses as well as Life and Health Insurance Licenses in the state of Virginia. He moved to Florida in 2002 and decided to focus solely on mortgages, obtaining his Mortgage Broker License for Florida in 2003 and then opening Solid Rock Mortgage in 2004. He has become Florida’s first Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist and Florida’s Debt and Equity Management Expert. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robert_Ashby