I gave the CD example just because it's got a very low rate of return, so it's the more conservative thing to do with money not being put towards interest.

For us, when I look at what our money has done over the last ten years, our real estate investments have held steadier than anything we've had invested in the market. We started investing in earnest over ten years ago, and in that time, it first dropped big-time after the first two or three years thanks to the tech sector tanking. We had just regained those losses when bam - this economic crisis we're now in hit, and so now we're back down. I realize that over time the stock market has done better than other investments, but in 12-13 years, even going with a diverse range of investments (mutual funds like Oppenheimer, American Funds, etc.) right now, none of that looks very good in terms of what we have put in overall. Not good at all.

We've got a fair amount of real estate, though, and it has gained in value over time.

While there *are* reasons to keep a mortgage, the tax savings on the interest really isn't one. The interest costs more than you save.