TexasBill

Saving the Economy with IRA Funds

I agree with John's comments. It's a lot harder to come up with something new of your own than to take pot shots at something someone else comes up with. Furthermore, putting down new ideas discourages others from suggesting their new ideas. The benefit of brainstorming is that there usually is a nugget of gold somewhere in most ideas; but, many times, you have to combine that nugget with someone else's to get to a workable solution. If you discourage new ideas you miss out on the bonanza. Keep your mind open, choose the suggestions you like but try not to put down the originator of the ideas you don't agree with because, in the long run, you may end up shooting yourself in the foot.

Regarding Stan's suggestion, the objective of most people is to pay off the debt on their home, hopefully, by the time they retire. Why does it not make sense to use one's IRA to do this since its aim is also to provide for one's retirement?

From the point of view of retirement cash flow, does not reducing one's outlay for mortgage payments (by eliminating debt) have the same effect as increasing one's income by purchasing investments? I don't understand why it is OK to do one but not the other.

Personally, I would like the flexibility to be able to use any of my financial assets to pay off any of my financial liabilities. In this particular situation, I'd prefer to be able to use my IRA's assets to pay off my mortgage directly rather than substituting it for another debt instrument owned/serviced by someone else; I don't know why I would want to or need to bring in a financial intermediary to accomplish this.

In any case, I appreciate Stan giving me the opportunity to think about his suggestion.