Gauging Your Mortgage

Note: In my Feb. 23 article, Six Tax Moves for $10,000, please be advised that when I was discussing credit card debt refinancing, I was referring to taking out a home equity loan or line of credit, the interest on which would be tax deductible in some cases. I apologize for any confusion.

Here's a question I get all the time: "I've run into a little extra cash, and my current income is taking care of things. Should I be paying off my mortgage?

Heck, every financial column you read talks about avoiding or getting out of debt, and how there's too much of it going around.

But that's consumer debt -- the typically high-cost kind used to fund all sorts of short-term purchases. ...