> cash flow is really the only upside to paying off a mortgage decades early.

In my limited experience, the freedom of not having a mortgage and a car loan, or any other type of debt, far outweighs the benefits of just cash flow. We now have a sense of freedom we didn't have Before. I think it is going to be very individual how one reacts to it, but for us having a minimal mortgage or none has made a big difference for us. Taking risks, having run startups for the last 20 years, this was a major contribution to being able to do this.

Unfortunately, because of the way monetary policy is structured, it is not possible for all, or even most, to live without debt. Debt is fundamental to our economy. You can only be without it if someone else takes on some amount of debt.

It is interesting that in Sweden, the debt of the population in Sweden has not grown as fast as the assets. Since 1996 when the assets where 2x the dept, the gap has widened. The debt is now nearly 3x the debt. (The last graph in on the page, unfortunately in Swedish). It didn't say anything how this debt and assets are distributed though.

I am not saying debt isn't a fundamental part of policy, but in a place like Sweden actually not having more debt than you can handle is possible. http://www.scb.se/sv_/Hitta-statistik/Artiklar/Bostadslanen-...

Who takes on debt if you pay off your mortgage early?

In order for you to pay off your mortgage, you need to receive money. That money was generally created through the creation of debts.

So it is hard to say exactly who took on that debt, but someone probably did.

For more on how debt creates money, read up on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractional-reserve_banking. And the person you replied to is exactly right - our entire economic system only works right if there is a lot of debt to go with it.

Paying off a mortgage destroys debt (and therefore, the money you used to pay it off).